The CAKE Girls
by Kitkat12323
Summary: The C.A.K.E Girls are Mega Naruto fans. So ending up in the Naruto world is a dream come true right? Not when Madara Uchiha wants to use them and then kill them. Now the girls must find a way home but end up having the adventure of a life time. ItachiOC, DeidaraOC, GaaraOC, OC? (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**C.A.K.E Girls**

**_Summary:_ The C.A.K.E Girls are Naruto fangirls. They wish that they could be in the Naruto Universe, but that doesn't happen, yet. While, relaxing in one of their swimming pools they get sucked down. Waking up they find themselves in the Naruto world. Dream come true right? Nope all four girls have to somehow get back home before Madara Uchiha can get his hands on them. The girls find themselves on an adventure while trying to find their way home. If only they could click their heels to get home...**

**Edited: 2/6/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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><p>"...and that's why you don't mess with the C.A.K.E Girls! Now get out of our way." Icy blue-gray eyes looked down at two black and blue boys as they stumbled away. Another girl stood next to her, wiping her hands on her pants. They both turned toward their two other friends; one was crying while clutching a picture and the other one was trying to console the crying girl.<p>

"Azula, are you alright? Come on it's not that bad; we can always get another picture." The girl next to her tried to sooth the poor girl.

"Y-you don't get it, Eri. T-that was a limited edition picture of the Sand Siblings!" All three girls sighed. How on earth were they suppose to get a limited edition poster; it would be so hard to find.

"Wait a sec, doesn't Mike Hobbs own a poster exactly like Azula's? Kiku, do you think you could convince him to give it to you, use your charm?" Said girl frowned at her friends' smirks, then she shuddered.

"Ewww, Mike is so gross, though. He'll probably ask for a kiss or, even worse, a date! No way am I going on a date with armpit boy, Callia!"

"Not even for Azula?" Callia's eyes softened toward the crying girl. Azula was the smartest girl, but also the easiest person for bullies to pick on. Her three best friends always protected her no matter what; they just didn't like to see her cry.

"Well...I'm only doing this for Azula, no one else." Kiku loved Azula like a sister. She would do anything to make her happy and beat up anyone who made fun of her. Azula stopped crying to look up at Kiku. She smiled faintly and sniffed. Her dark chocolate eyes were red from crying as well as her nose. She then pulled Kiku into a death hug. For such a quiet and non-violent girl she was very strong.

"Thanks so much Kiku. You're the best friend ever. Thanks guys, I don't know what I'd do without you all." All four girls linked arms as they walked to their next class together.

-:-

The C.A.K.E Girls were known throughout the whole school as the four inseparable friends. They had met up when they were all five. Their parents had signed them up for karate classes; that's when the four girls bonded. Azula was the first to realize that putting their first letter initials together spelled cake, a dessert all the girls loved. So, Callia, Azula, Kiku, and Eri became known as the C.A.K.E Girls by everyone they met; even their parents called them that whenever they were together. They all kept up with their karate classes so they could see each other more often. When they found out that they were all going to the same high school they were all ecstatic. Now all four girls were in their junior year at Rosewood High.

Callia was the toughest girl when it came to protecting her friends, she was, also, the oldest out of them all. Callia had an olive complexion and bright wavy red-orange hair. She had blue-gray eyes that, when she was angry, looked like they could freeze you. Her mother had been Greek; thus her being named Callia. Her father was American and had married her mother and moved to North Carolina. She had a younger brother who was only 2 years old. She had done kickboxing for 5 years and also did swimming. Callia was like the mother hen to her friends; she would protect them, but also try to be the reasonable one. Someone have mercy if you ever got her angry; she had a fierce temper.

Azula was the quiet and shy one of the group. She was the third oldest and the tallest; she was so tall that she seemed to tower over the girls. She had tan skin and black hair streaked with brown highlights. She had dark chocolate eyes and wore black squared glasses. She was the smartest and could memorize anything she saw once. Her mother and father were both from Spain; her father was in a company that had him move all over the world. They finally settled down in North Carolina. Although being so shy and quiet, she was very strong and quick. Azula liked to work out in the gym, do jazz and ballet. Only when she thought it was necessary would she actually fight back; that would be when her friends were in trouble.

Kiku was the silly one in the group. The second oldest girl and the shortest one. She had waist length blond hair. Her eyes looked almost black and her skin was pale white. Her mother was half Japanese and half French while her father was Irish. Kiku loved making pranks and being loud. She talked the most, which in her words, made up for all the times her friends didn't talk. She had a lot of energy and enjoyed running track to burn up her energy. She had taken fencing lessons for 6 years. Kiku didn't have any siblings so she 'adopted' her friends as her sisters. Kiku always knew how to lighten the mood.

Eri was the most normal one from the others; she called herself average. She had brown hair and stunning jade colored eyes. Her mother was Japanese and her father was half Chinese and half white; neither had brown hair or green eyes. Eri enjoyed drawing and she even took kendo classes. She was fluent in Japanese, only because her mother made her take classes since she could talk. She had convinced her friends, when they were all around 10 years old, to take gymnastics classes with her. They all were good, but Eri was the best; she could bend her body any way without hurting herself.

Each girl was different in her own way, but they were the closest group of friends you could find. They all shared some common things with each other: they all excelled in karate, they all took a sport and they all did gymnastics. The one obsession they shared was they were mega fan girls of Naruto.

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><p>"OMG, I LOVE YOU KIKU!" Everyone covered their ears as Azula gave an ear splitting squeal of joy. She was holding a new poster of the Sand Siblings. Somehow Kiku convinced Mike to give her the poster without having to go out with him. Whatever she did Azula would never know.<p>

"Ya, well don't ask me to ever talk to Mike again. He was raping me with his eyes! It was so gross! I could smell his armpits; he was literally in my personal bubble and breathing down my back!" Kiku shuddered at the memory. She couldn't help but smile as Azula danced around the room; when Azula was happy she acted so unlike herself.

"So, which one of the boys do you like?"

"Gaara! He's so cute and so heroic. I would die of happiness if I ever met him!" Azula squealed again.

"Ya, but he'd probably have to look up to look at you; you're like a giant," Kiku joked as she poked Azula. All the girls laughed as they tried to imagine this. Azula just scowled at the girls as she put her poster up on her wall. She looked at Gaara with stars in her eyes.

"Wouldn't it be cool if we could meet the Naruto characters? I mean I could learn some things from Sakura, like her monster punch." Callia smirked as she imagined using strength like that to hit some certain bullies. All the girls agreed that it would be cool to meet the Naruto characters in person. The closest they could get was reading Fanfiction and making up stories.

"Hey you guys want to see my newest drawing?" Eri raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. All three girls were curious to see what she drew. Eri liked to draw Naruto characters and Naruto pairings. So, all the girls gathered around her as she showed them the picture.

"WHAT THE HELL, ERI!" Kiku yelled as she had a nosebleed.

"M-my virgin eyes!" Azula screamed as she covered her eyes and turned away from the picture; her nose was, slightly, bleeding.

"Can I have that?" Callia looked intently at the picture. She had a slight blush on her face as she studied it. The picture was a pairing of Deidara and Sasori, together. I think you can guess what they were wearing or what little they were wearing.

"Sure, Cal. I did make it for you anyways. I knew you would love this." Eri burst out laughing as Callia held the picture. All the other girls knew she had a mega crush on Deidara and seeing him almost naked made her day.

"Ewww, couldn't you have made a better yaoi pairing? I mean everyone knows the best couple would be a NaruSasu," Kiku stated. She had a little crush on the younger Uchiha, so you can guess why she said this.

"Ack, you guys are gonna ruin my virgin mind. I don't like yaoi pictures," Azula whined.

"Then, why did I see you looking them up last week on your computer?" Eri asked while throwing a don't-lie-to-me look.

"I-I wasn't l-looking up pictures. I just h-happen to come upon that page by pure chance." Azula tried to lie but her face turned red as she said this. All the girls broke out in a fit of cackles and rolled on the floor.

"Come on guys, we should get to sleep. We start summer vacation tomorrow!" Callia clapped at the thought of break. All the girls had decided to relax tomorrow and do lots of shopping.

"I still wish I could go to the Naruto world," Azula mumbled. The night sky was clear. Stars twinkled brightly. Suddenly a flash of light streaked across the darkness. They say that wishing on a shooting star makes them come true...

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 2/6/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

The girls and I shopped for four hours straight. We had a ton of shopping bags and some books too. I had gotten the latest Naruto volume and Azula had some other books. We all dropped the stuff off in my kitchen.

"Hey why not go for a swim?" Callia asked.

That would be great since we were all really hot right now. We all ran upstairs, me to my room and the other three to the guest rooms, and changed into our bathing suits. God, it felt great to be relaxing in the pool and staring at the clouds. I looked over to my friends and smiled.

Azula was sitting on the stairs of the pool reading her new book. Callia was floating in the middle of the pool and Eri was drawing while keeping her sketchbook dry. This was the life; spending time with my three best friends. I looked at the water and noticed it was bubbling. I looked at the water for a while; our pool didn't have any special functions so why was it doing that?

"Okay, who farted in _my_ pool?"

"WHAT?" All three girls yelled out. They looked at the water too and noticed the bubbles.

"I so didn't do anything." Eri put her hands up in defense.

"I didn't cut the cheese either," Azula piped up. I rolled my eyes at her as she used the old term for farting.

"Well, Cal, I guess that leaves you." I looked at her and she looked back at me. While Callia and I had our intense stare down, Azula kept tapping my arm.

"What Azula? Can't you see I'm having a stare down."

"B-but your pool! It's spinning Kiku!" I looked at the pool and sure enough the water was swirling in the middle. Before I could move, I felt the water pulling me in. The other girls looked frantic as well and tried to grab onto something. Callia was the closest to the swirling vortex of doom and she screamed as she disappeared from our sight.

"Shit, Callia!" I looked for her, but couldn't see anything but water. I got closer to the edge of the whirlpool and then I fell down and blacked out.

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><p><em>Ugh, my body hurts. Did I workout too much? Why is it so cold during the summer...stupid weather. Why does my room smell like pine needles? My bed is so hard...<em>

My eyes snapped open when I realized I was sleeping on the ground. I shivered from the cold air; I was only wearing a bikini for crying out loud. I looked around at the trees that seemed to surround everything. I noticed a bright pink and white lump next to me; it was Callia. She was really still; I got worried.

"Cal are you alright? Callia? CALLIA! NOOO DON'T DIE ON ME! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE TO FEND FOR MYSELF! CALLIA I-"

"SHUT UP! I'm alive you idiot!" Callia sat up and glared at me. I, then, glomped her, seeing that she was alive and breathing.

"Kiku let go of me. You're choking me. First you yell in my ear and now you're going to kill me with your hugs." I got off her and smiled. At least I wasn't alone, wherever we were. I didn't see Azula or Eri; hopefully they were together.

"Where the heck are we?" Callia looked around and then shivered when she realized how cold it was. I shrugged my shoulders at her. When Callia turned to the side I gasped.

"What? What are you looking at?" she questioned I pointed to her upper right arm and she looked down. Her eyes widened as she looked at her arm.

There was a strange design on her upper arm; it was bright red. What looked like vines seem to make an intricate circle pattern. Inside the circle was a medium sized diamond with a strange letter or maybe character in it. A little above the diamond was a triangle pointing up. I didn't remember anything like that before; it definitely wasn't a tattoo because Callia was afraid of needles. She tried to rub it off but it was still there, which meant it was real.

"Where the heck did this come from? Kiku do you have one?" I looked at my own arms but didn't see anything. Something caught my eye while I was running my hands on my arms. On my right palm I noticed a grey-silver color. It was the same design as Callia's except mines was different in color and the triangle was pointing toward my thumb. I showed Callia and she just stared.

"I think we should find somewhere to go. It's getting dark out." Callia got up and waited for me to get up. I still had no idea where we were and it was starting to get even cooler. As we walked I tried to think of where we could be.

Well, it isn't everyday your pool sucks you down into it and spits you out in the middle of a forest. All of a sudden we heard some rustling and we both whipped our heads behind us. I didn't see anyone, but something in me told me to duck. Before I could think straight, my body moved on its own. I grabbed Callia and pulled her down, just in time to see a kunai whizz past us and hit a tree.

I gulped when I realized how close that was from hitting one of us. We turned our heads slowly toward the person standing in front of us. Now would be the perfect time to cue the ominous music and lighting should be flashing in the background.

"What are you doing here?" The man glared at us through his round glasses.

His silvery hair seemed to glisten in the low sunlight. I couldn't believe it. The man was none other than Kabuto, Orochimaru's henchman, er I mean helper. Callia and I blinked and just kept staring. This has to be a dream; next thing I'll be waking up in a chicken costume at school. I tried to pinch myself and flinched when it really did hurt. This was no dream; Kabuto was standing before us.

"U-um, you don't happen to be Kabuto?" Callia elbowed me in the ribs when I asked him. She gave me the are-you-crazy look. I gave her the what-was-that-for look. She then gave me the are-you-stupid look. So, I-

"Enough with the looks you two. Now what are you doing here and how do you know my name?" Kabuto hissed at us and looked annoyed that we were communicating without talking; he probably had no idea what the looks meant. Strangely, I wasn't afraid of him even though he could probably kill us.

"Uh, well, you see we just woke up and had no idea how we got here. The reason we know your name is because...because your Orochimaru's sidekick and who doesn't know Orochimaru, right?" I tried to give him an innocent smile, but his stony expression didn't change.

"Well, come with me. Let's see what Orochimaru wants to do with you. Maybe he'll let me experiment on you two." The last part was mumbled to himself, but Callia and I heard. We both shivered at the thought of being Kabuto's experiment. I noticed how he was eyeing what little clothing we were wearing. That look gave me goosebumps and I wanted to die right then and there.

_The guy is a closet perv! I knew it. Ha take that Eri! If only she were here to see the way he is looking at us. Wait...LOOKING AT US WITH BARELY ANY CLOTHES ON!_

"Hey you pervert stop looking at us! That's so gross," I yelled at him.

I saw Callia stiffen when she realized what he was doing. Callia hated pervs and she usually beat up any guys who tried to hit on her or us. Kabuto quickly averted his eyes and gestured up to follow him.

Now, any sane person would of run away from him once he turned his back. We aren't the sane people, I guess, since we followed him. We followed him to cave and as we walked in I noticed torches were the only light source in here. Kabuto lead us down a number of halls and I lost track of which ones we went through. Finally, we arrived at a very large door. The door had carvings of two giant snakes on either side.

_Wonder who's room this is... Orochimaru must really like snakes more than I thought...weirdo pedophile snake creep._

Kabuto pushed open the door and pushed me and Callia into the dark room. There was one torch burning in the middle of the room. The light cast eerie shadows around the room. I tried to squint in the darkness to see if I could see anything. Nope, it was too dark.

"Kabuto, why are you here and with two girls?" I shivered as the voice spoke. He really did sound like a snake.

"I found these two girls in the forest. They claim not to know where they are. I thought this might interest you Orochimaru-sama," he stated

"We really don't know where we are, you closet perv!" Callia gripped my arm tightly telling me to shut up. I had a loud mouth and sometimes didn't know when to keep it shut. Orochimaru finally came out and looked at us for a long time. I started to squirm under his gaze. This was so uncomfortable especially when you're only wearing a bikini and there are two guys in a dark room and they could attack us.

"What are your names?" Orochimaru seemed to hiss at the end of his sentence. Maybe because it ended in an s? Haha, that would be funny, but he's most likely angry.

"I'm Callia and this is Kiku," Callia said. She firmly stood her ground while Orochimaru looked at her then me. He eyed the marking on Callia's arm and then looked back at us. I shifted from one foot to another, then I felt Callia go rigid. I wondered why until I felt _him_ staring at us. I peeked over my shoulder and saw Kabuto looking at us; his eyes were looking down. I could only guess what part of our body he was eyeing.

"STOP LOOKING AT US YOUR PERVERT. IF YOU KEEP IT UP I'LL KILL YOU!" Callia and I yelled at the same time. We both glared at him. It felt like the room was filled with electricity as we had our stare down. I thought I noticed the torch flare up; probably my imagination. Kabuto looked pale white as we glared at him. Orochimaru seemed to be chuckling at us.

"I think you girls will be some use to me. Kabuto, have Karin give these girls some clothes and a room. After, report back to me." Orochimaru turned around and seemed to melt into the darkness. Callia and I froze as what he said sunk in. We were going to be staying here with Orochimaru!

"What do we do Cal? We can't stay with a murdering snake!" We were whispering as we followed Kabuto.

"We have to stay until Sasuke kills him. Then, we can make a run for it."

"Wait, how do you know Sasuke is even here. For all we know, we could still be in the first season of Naruto."

"I saw him leaning against the back wall. He was wearing his season two outfit."

"Wait you saw him! Why didn't you say anything! I didn't see him." I couldn't help but whine. I wanted to see Sasuke, my anime crush.

"I couldn't say anything, not in front of Orochimaru. He would become suspicious if we knew Sasuke's name. I don't know, but since we got here, in the Naruto world, my eyesight has been very good. I can see into the darkness like I have night vision goggles or something."

We both stopped whispering as Kabuto stopped at a door. He knocked and a woman opened it. She had red hair, not like Callia's though. Karin's hair was bright red while Callia's was more of a red-orange color; Cal's was softer looking and looked so much better than the sour face standing at the door.

"What do you want, Kabuto?" I couldn't help but giggle; her voice sounded so snotty, just like some girls at our school. She glared at me and then went back to glare at Kabuto.

"Orochimaru wants you to give these girls some clothes and give them a room to share. You are to watch over them while they are here." Kabuto nodded to her and then left. Karin glared at us again. Her eyes were actually red or maybe she wore colored contacts. Nah, they aren't as advanced as our people.

"Whatever, come on I don't have all day." She walked into her room and we followed. Karin, then, threw some random clothes at us. We looked at them and then looked back at her.

"If you don't like anything then I have some more stuff in there. Go change and I'll be back in a few hours or so." She left her room and didn't even bother locking the door. We both sighed and went to change. It took awhile, for most of Karin's clothes were a little too revealing. The girl sure had a lot of clothes even though she wore the same thing most of the time.

I finally decided on a black tank top. I had on a gray shirt over it. The shirt had shoulder straps instead of sleeves. The shirt ended above my bellybutton but the tank top covered the rest. I had a pair of black pants that hit the knees and it had two pockets on either side. I love pockets so much. Then of course, the standard ninja sandals. I found a black glove for my right hand but couldn't find the left one. It didn't matter as long as it covered my marking. The thumb and middle finger were fingerless while the rest of my fingers were covered. I wanted to cut my hair, but Callia wouldn't let me so I settled on putting it up. I tightly braided it and then wrapped it into a bun. Some of my hair fell out, but at least most of it was out of my face.

Callia came out of the bathroom after changing. She wore a plum purple top with a turtleneck style. There were buttons that went from the top to the bottom of the shirt. The shirt had long sleeves that flared out and ended above her knuckles. She had on a forest green skirt that reached mid-thigh and had two small slits on either side; she wore black shorts under it. The skirt fit her form well, but was made of a nice stretchy material so she could move. She had on ninja sandals that came up to her calf muscle. She left her shoulder length hair down. We both grabbed one of Karin's weapon pouches; never know when you'll need these here.

"So, what do we do know? I don't want to stay here all day." I was bored to death. Callia looked around Karin's room and grabbed one of the few books she had.

"I don't know. I'm going to read. You can go explore a little if you want Kiku," she said.

"That's a great idea, Cal. If I don't come back in an hour, come look for me." I left the room and looked up and down the hall.

Which way should I go? I decided to go to the 'dungeon room' and see if I could meet anyone. As I walked I noticed that most of the doors looked the same. After a while I knew I was lost; now what? I noticed a black door with many locks on it. Maybe that's where all the weapons are stored.

I smiled, no lock could stop me from opening any door. I was a genius when it came to lock picking; just don't tell my parents. It took me awhile, but my talent didn't fail me. The door was finally opened; I tried to pull it open but it was heavier than I thought. I pulled really hard until it opened enough for me to stick my head in. It was really dark and I couldn't see anything. I could barely make out a large shape in the corner.

"H-Hello? Anyone in here?" The shape moved and I looked at a pair of bloodthirsty eyes. I gulped as the shape moved.

"Hehe, a girl. That means I can kill you." The shape lunged for me.

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 2/6/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

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><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

_It's too hot! Summer can be like hell, but I never thought it could be this hot. Hmmm...this pillow is so soft; it feels nice and it smells like polished wood...WAIT WHAT!_

I tried to open my eyes, but I was still so tired. I forced my eyes open and noticed that my pillow was black. Also, my pillow was moving very fast and the wind was blowing. I snapped my head up and squeaked. I was riding on someone's back and all I saw was sand, lots and lots of sand. I looked to my right and saw Eri on the back of a woman who looked strangely familiar. She had blond hair tied up into four short ponytails.

"So, ya finally awake?" The stranger turned his head toward the back and I gasped. He had purple face paint on. I only knew one person with purple face paint and he wasn't suppose to be real.

"This is a dream. You're not real." I kept mumbling that to myself. He gave me a questioning look and so did the girl.

"Well, this must be the best dream you ever had because I'm here." He smirked at me and winked.

I gave him a blank look and ignored his comment. Kankuro and Temari both were silent; this gave me time to study them. Kankuro wore his all black 'cat' outfit and didn't seem to have his puppet, Karasu, with him. He looked weird especially up close; face paint made him look like a clown.

Temari was one of my favorite characters because she was a strong kunoichi. Her outfit was the same as in the anime. Her outfit was from the season two series and Kankuro's face paint was a different style, probably from season two as well.

_This can't be real. It's a dream and I'm going to wake up with a really bad sunburn; not that I'm not getting one right now, though. Ugh, the sun is too bright here and I'm wearing only my bathing suit. Holy cow! I'm only wearing a bathing suit and Kankuro is carrying me!_

I tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he had a firm grip on me. I knew he was holding me so I wouldn't fall, but this was so weird. I felt his hands starting to move toward my butt.

"You pervert! Don't you dare try and touch my ass! I'll snap your fingers so you'll never be able to...eat!" Kankuro lost his stride and fell down, pulling me down with him. I rolled in the sand and stopped. I really wanted to beat that guy to a bloody pulp right now. Temari had stopped and set Eri down; she seemed to be waking up. Temari looked kinda pissed at her brother.

"Let us have a little talk, Kankuro. Some advice from your big sis Temari." She dragged Kankuro behind a large sand dune. I guess she believed we wouldn't run away since we were in the middle of the desert. I walked over to Eri and shook her.

"Come on Eri wake up. You'll never guess where we are," I whispered.

"What do you want Az. I'm so tired just let me sleep some more," she grumbled

"Unless you want to end up with sand in your butt and a bad sunburn, I suggest you get up." When I mentioned sand and sunburn Eri bolted up straight. She looked around confused and then her eyes widened.

"Where are we?"

"I'm guessing in the Naruto world. Temari and Kankuro were carrying us, but I think Temari is beating Kankuro up right now." She looked at me as I pointed in the direction they had disappeared in. We could hear something being hit, most likely Kankuro.

"This has got to be a dream. I mean Naruto isn't even real," she mumbled.

"If it's a dream then how come we're dreaming the same thing? Anyways remember Kiku's pool that turned into a vortex? I think it brought us here," I said, trying to be logical. Then, it suddenly hit me. We were in the Naruto world, and probably going to the Sand village. That's where Gaara lived; I might get to meet him. I jumped up and down and started to squeal again. Eri gave me a weird look.

"You alright, Az. You're not getting heat stroke and going crazy on me are you?" She smirked.

"Eri, we're in the Naruto world! We could meet Gaara! Oh, I want to meet him...wait not in this though." Eri rolled her eyes at me and sighed.

"Well, at least we're with the good guys. I wouldn't want to be with some murdering ninjas," I said quietly, after calming down.

Temari and Kankuro both returned. Kankuro seemed to have a faint black eye. I couldn't help but giggle at him. He deserved it anyways.

"So, are we going to go now? If I stay here any longer I'm going to burn," Eri demanded.

Eri's skin was very fair and the intense sun wasn't helping the cause. Kankuro and Temari looked at both of us and then started to walk. It wasn't long before we reached the gates to the village. As we walked through the village, people looked at us and whispered. The guys looked like they were drooling because of what we wore. Okay, now I felt really uncomfortable.

"Uh, Temari?" Her head turned sharply toward me. I, then, realized my mistake. I had said her name even though she never told me what it was.

_What do I do? Wait...she said her name when she was going to 'talk' to Kankuro so I should know her name, right?_

"How do you know my name?" she question suspiciously.

"Um, you said it when you were going to talk to, uh, Kankuro. You also said his name out loud as well...so I just assumed that was your name." My voice had gone very quiet as I said this. I noticed her facial expression softened when she remembered what she said.

"So, um, could w-we get some clothes. I don't feel comfortable walking around like this, if you

know what I mean," I said softly and glanced around nervously. Temari gave me a knowing look. She led us to a small store that sold clothes. She shooed Kankuro away, so he had to wait outside.

"Well, you two can pick out something to wear. I'll be waiting outside the dressing rooms if you need anything." She went to sit down and Eri and I walked around.

"Az, you have to be more careful. We can't let them know that we know anything about them," Eri hissed.

"I know Eri. I just forgot a little. I won't do it again, scouts honor." I made a funny face.

"You're not even a girl scout!" We both giggled at this. After a while we got some clothes and went to change.

I had gotten a sleeveless light blue dress that fell above my knees. I put on a light purple jacket thing, it had no sleeves and it reached a little past my knees. The zipper only started a little below my bust line so the rest flowed out. I had picked out a pair of black boots; they were like ninja sandals, but had closed toes. The boots came only up to my ankle; I had found some leg warm things that were very light and the same exact color as my jacket. I was looking at myself when something caught my eye.

I looked at my wrist; right on the inside of my wrist was a strange white marking. There were vine like design making a circle around a medium sized diamond. The diamond had a character or something inside and a little below was a triangle pointing down. I didn't remember having this. I grabbed some arm wrappings and wrapped it around my wrist. I wrapped it until it reached my elbow then stopped. There no one would be able to see it now. I would have to talk to Eri about this, but only when we were alone.

I came out of the dressing room and Temari gave me a low whistle.

"You're kind of dressed funny. No one has ever picked anything from that pile of clothes before. It looks good on you though." I smiled and wondered what was wrong with my outfit. It could easily pass for an outfit back home. I plopped down next to her, waiting for Eri to come out. Eri always took the longest time to get dressed; she had to get up two hours early for school just to figure out what to wear.

"Don't hold your breath. She takes a long time to get dressed." Temari laughed at my comment. I smiled; she didn't look scary when she was laughing.

"Well, Kankuro might get impatient but he'll live," she replied, amused. I giggled as I imagined Kankuro waiting outside all day for us. Let's see how long it would take him before he snapped and storm into the store. While we waited I took some of my hair on either side of my head and put them into ponytails letting the rest of my hair down.

Eri finally came out after twenty minutes or so. She had on a silver tube top with small buttons.

To cover herself, Eri had on a dark blue jacket with long sleeves. The collar was a light gold and reached well past her knees, stopping a little above her calf muscle. She wore black three in a quarter inch pants and black sandals. She had put her hair in a low ponytail and tied a ribbon close to the end. I noticed she had a scarf wrapped around her neck so you couldn't see her neck at all.

"Wow, you both do dress differently from other people. Where do you come from? What's your name?" Temari asked curiously.

"Um, we come from very, very far away. I mean really far," I mumbled. Eri and I exchanged glances. We both had the why-does-she-say-we-dress-weird look. Temari paid for the clothes and we went out.

"Well, I'm Eri and this is Azula." We had forgotten to introduce ourselves.

"Call me Az, though," I added. Most people called me Az. Temari gave us a weird look.

"You have strange names, how old are you two?" We had just gone out and Kankuro looked grumpy; probably from waiting for us to come out.

"We're both sixteen. I'll be seventeen in September and Eri will be seventeen in October. Um, what month is it right now?"

"It's close to the end of June." Kankuro replied as he eyed our new look. He stared at me for a while until I tried to glare at him. The last day of June would be Callia's birthday and then Kiku's birthday would be in the middle of July. Back home we were in the middle of June not the end. I guess time here was a little faster than our time.

I was worried about Kiku and Callia. They weren't with us when I woke up. I hoped they were okay; maybe they ended up in the leaf village. We walked in silence until we reached a large building. As we walked through the halls, I noticed a lot of ninjas around. I was too busy looking that I bumped into Kankuro. He looked down at me and smirked.

_Wait, he looked down at me? He's taller than me? No way, I'm usually the tall one even when it comes to boys._

I kept running this over as Eri guided me through the door knowing I was in thinking mode. I didn't even look up when someone spoke.

"Temari who are these two girls?" A calm, but tired, voice asked.

"Kankuro and I found them in the desert, Kazekage-sama." At the word Kazekage I looked up. My eyes looked into green-blue eyes. My mouth opened slightly as I stared at Gaara. He had a very serious expression on his face, but still looked so cute.

My inner fangirl tried to push its way out, but I held it down. I didn't think Kankuro and Temari would hesitate to kill me if I suddenly glomped Gaara. I tried to breath, but I guess I was hyperventilating because Kankuro said my face was turning purple. I finally did breath and my face flushed as Gaara looked at me.

"What were you two doing in the middle of the desert," Gaara asked in his professional voice. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out except an eep.

"We don't know how we got to the desert. We both woke up while these two were carrying us," Eri stated, she gave me a worried look. She probably thought I was going to faint or something. I settled on looking at Gaara's right shoulder and felt better that I wasn't meeting his eyes.

"It's true. We found them unconscious and it looked like they had been in water or something because they were slightly wet. They could've died in another hour or so from the sun," Temari said as she looked at me with a strange look.

"Where are you two from?"

"Uh, v-very f-far a-away, G-Gaara," I stuttered. I gave myself a pat on the back that I had talked to him even though I had stuttered a little. Everyone froze as well as Eri.

"Az, you promised not to say anything." Eri hissed at me as I realized I had called Gaara by his name. Temari had only called him Kazekage not by his real name. We were in deep trouble now. Gaara's eyes narrowed as he studied us. Kankuro and Temari had blocked the door; no way to escape now.

"How do you know my name? If you two are from far away then you shouldn't know who I am. Unless you two are lying or spies."

Eri and I visibly gulped at Gaara's menacing tone and looked at each other. We either tell him the truth or lie our butts off. I had a feeling, though, that option one was better, but they might not believe us. I gave Eri a nod and she nodded back; we were going to tell the truth.

"We know who you are; we know everything about you guys. I knew who you two were even before Temari said her name and Kankuro's name out loud," I admitted. I looked at them to see their reaction; they had a three way look, how on earth they did that I had no idea.

"How much do you know about us? Where do you come from?" Gaara stared at us waiting for one of us to talk. Eri spoke up first.

"Well, it's kinda hard to answer your second question but let me see if you understand this. We both come from a different world, I guess. In our world you guys are made up or not real. It's like your life is a book; we can read about what is happening to you. Of course in our world everything we read is purely fiction. The story tells us about your past, present and future." I then thought of something as Eri finished her speech.

"But we don't know all about your future. Your, uh, story is still incomplete in our world. We don't know how we got here or why. But we're not here to hurt anyone; we would rather help you guys." I tried to smile but it was hard when everyone was silent. Eri and I shifted from one side to the other waiting for someone, anyone to say something. Gaara finally relaxed and sat back in his chair.

"You two seem to be telling the truth from your chakra signatures. If you know about our future then maybe you'll be of use to us. I'll allow you both to stay here with us. Temari, show them to the guest rooms. We will talk some more tomorrow." I let out a breath of relief as Gaara said this. Temari gestured for us to follow her. I cast one more glance at Gaara and blushed as he stared back at me. We left the office and Temari showed us to some rooms.

"Eri, you'll be next to my room if you need me and Az you'll be next to Kankuro's room." I groaned. Why did I have to be near the cat man?

"Uh, Temari? You don't suppose I could get a room next to Gaara, do you?" My face flushed when I said this. Temari raised an eyebrow at me and then chuckled. She shook her head at me and said "what do you see in my brother?" My face turned even redder, if that's even possible. Temari told us she would bring us to dinner later. Eri and I were left alone in our rooms. She came over to my room and we just sat there in shock.

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 2/13/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but the OCs are mine **

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><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

I screamed and ran away from the door. Being the stupid one, I didn't think of shutting the door. The thing in the room burst out looking at me. I couldn't help but gasp; it was Juugo.

_Shit! I'm in big trouble. He's in his killing mood right now. What do I do? I could try and fight, but I'd probably end up losing. I could try and calm him down. That means I have to get him to sit still first...hell I have to fight either way!_

Juugo charged at me, ready to hit my face. I ducked and moved out of the way; he punched a hole in the wall. I gulped; his fist was aimed for my head and my head would've been like the wall. I knew karate, so maybe I could use what I learned to beat him. If I could sense where he was going to hit, just like I could sense the kunai Kabuto threw at me last time, then maybe my strength went up as well since I got here.

There was only one way to find out and that would be to hit Juugo. I would either knock him out or just break my bones. I charged at him pretending to aim for his face, then I ducked past the arm he shot at me and did a round house kick to his stomach. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt and I sent him flying against the wall, making another hole.

_Orochimaru is going to kill me for all the holes. That is if he finds out who did it..._

I was in deep thought when Juugo cried out and charged toward me. His arm had transformed because of the curse seal. That would hurt if he hit me; it was too late though. His arm connected with my stomach and I hit the wall hearing a crack from the wall or from my head. I couldn't breath; it felt like all the oxygen in the air was gone. My ribs were killing me; I might've broke a few.

"I'll kill you little girl!" Juugo was laughing like a madman. I tried to talk, but my stomach still hurt. I managed to breath after a while.

"I'm not a little girl! Juugo calm down, please. You don't want to kill me or anyone. Don't lose control," I pleaded. My voice sounded like a frog and I had to suck in more air; it hurt to talk. He still had that crazy look in his eyes. He charged at me again ready to pound me into the wall.

I instinctively raised my hands up. Suddenly I felt a strange tingle and heard something crackle, kind of like electricity. I raised my head up just in time to see what looked like lightning shoot from my palms and slam against Juugo's chest.

This time, when he hit the wall, he groaned and didn't get up; he started to change back to normal. I relaxed when I realized I had won; I stared at my hands in amazement. I had shot lighting out of my hands, that meant I had lighting type chakra. I didn't even know I had any chakra.

_This is so awesome! Wait till I tell Callia! She'll be so surprised. Maybe I can convince Sasuke to teach me how to do Chidori. Wait I have to focus on Juugo first...he calmed down so this _

_shouldn't be hard, I hope._

I slowly got up, wincing from the pain in my stomach. My outfit was only a little dusty; maybe Orochimaru wouldn't find out I had a fight on my first day here. I limped over to where Juugo was; he was still breathing. I gently shook him; his eyes popped open and he gasped in horror. He then quickly got up and ran toward his cell, more like fast limped. I sighed and limped back to the door and poked my head in.

"Hey are you okay?" I asked. It was ironic how I was asking that to him when I was the one with the broken ribs. He looked up at me terrified; probably thinking he was going to go wild again.

"Stay away from me! I don't want to kill you!" he whispered in fear. I felt bad for him, really I did. I opened the door wider and walked over to his little corner. He tried to push himself closer to the wall, but there was no more room to move.

"Listen, I know you don't want to kill me. Why not come on out of your cell? I promise I'll try and stop you from going crazy," I suggested. I gave him a reassuring smile, but he still looked scared.

"I could kill you any minute. I don't know..." he trailed off.

"Well, if you do go crazy I'll just have to shock you again. Don't worry I'll help you." I gave his hand a squeeze. He tensed up and then relaxed a little. I smiled; maybe he'd start to trust me.

"I have to go see Kabuto about my wounds. I promise I'll come back," I said. I got up and gave one last smile and shut the door.

I locked only one of the locks, and then tried to find my way back to my room. It took me awhile to find it, but I finally did.

When I got there Kabuto and Callia were standing there at my door. Callia looked worried and Kabuto just looked mad that I had wandered away. I smiled weakly as I kept limping toward them. Callia looked horrified when she saw I was beat up and Kabuto just looked even angrier; Orochimaru would probably have his head if he found out I got in trouble.

"What happen to you, Kiku! Who did this to you?" Callia cried. She ran over to me and made me sit on my bed. Kabuto came over and started to heal my stomach. He said something about a few broken ribs that would heal by tomorrow. I sighed and drifted off to sleep; fighting made you tired.

I woke up to the smell of food. My stomach grumbled loudly as I stared at the three bowls of soup. I got up and inspected my stomach; there were only a few light bruises. Callia and Karin were both sitting in my room. Karin was inspecting her fingernails and Callia was looking up at the ceiling. I got out of bed and sat next to Callia.

"Mmmm. This smells great! I'm starved, let's eat." I grabbed my chopsticks and started to eat really loudly. Callia looked relieved to see I was alright. Karin looked disgusted as I ate my soup like a pig. I just stuck a mouthful of food at her.

"What's the matter sour face not going to eat?" I mocked.

"Eating that would make you gain calories. I need to keep my figure for Sasuke-kun." She sneered.

"If you don't eat Sasuke won't be able to see you. Actually, that's a good thing. So, keep starving yourself so I won't have to look at you." I smiled at her sweetly. Karin growled and then got up and left. She left her soup untouched so I grabbed the bowl.

"Cal, you'll never guess what happened today," I said excitedly.

Callia was drinking her soup like she was drinking juice. She had no idea how to use chopsticks, so this was the only way she could eat. I would have to thank mom later for forcing me to learn to eat with chopsticks.

"So, what happened? Does this have to do with why you were injured?" she inquired sternly. I told her what had happened with Juugo and how I had hit him with lighting. She looked horrified when I told her about how I fought Juugo, but looked relieved when I told her I was okay.

"So, you can use lightning chakra? That's so cool Kiku! I wonder what I can do?" She looked wistful at the prospect of being able to fight.

I had no idea either, although, I would put my bet on fire or earth chakra type for her. Callia had a fiery temper and loved nature. So, it could go either way. I finished my soup and then grabbed Karin's bowl and got up.

"Where are you going?" She glanced at me.

"I'm going to see Juugo," I stated, matter-of-factly.

"You are the only person I know who would go back to see the guy who almost killed her." She shook her head at me and laughed. Callia knew Juugo wasn't bad, so she trusted me to go without getting hurt.

"By the way how are the books you were reading, Cal?" I was curious to hear what kinds of books Karin read.

"Arg! They're all in Japanese! I can't read a single book here. I don't get how I can speak and understand Japanese but I can't read it!" she grunted in anger. She banged her head lightly on the table.

"I can read, speak and understand Japanese." I ducked as a pillow was thrown at me. Callia stuck her tongue out.

"Show off! If this was in Greek I could read it. I think I'll go see what Kabuto is doing. Maybe see his experiments." She had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Be careful, Cal. The guys a closet perv," I warned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll just kick him in his family jewels if he tries anything." She grinned at me and er both laughed. Callia and I walked down separate halls.

I had memorized where Juugo's cell was so I got there without getting lost. I unlocked the one lock and opened the door. I had taken one of the torches from the halls and set it in the torch holder in the cell. Juugo was sitting in his corner with his head down; he was in the same place I had left him.

"Hey Juugo. Are you hungry? I brought some soup for you." I tried sounding cheerful. I set the bowl in front of him and placed the chopsticks on top.

The torch made the whole room much brighter. The room was only a square, not much else. It was kind of depressing. He looked up and looked back down at the bowl. Finally, he started to eat; he watched me carefully from the corner of his eye. I wasn't going to attack him or anything, so why be so guarded?

"How do you know my name?" he asked quietly. I almost missed the question. What could I tell him, that I knew a lot about him, that I came from another world. Nah, I wouldn't tell him that, yet.

"I just know a lot of stuff. I know you hide in here so you won't kill anyone. I know that you really hate killing people, and that you're a really gentle person," I explained as best as I could. He blinked at me and then looked back down at his soup.

"Ah, where are my manners. My name is Kiku." I extended my hand and smiled. He looked at my hand, then hesitantly shook it.

"Kiku means chrysanthemum...it fits you. You seem like a bright and happy person just like a chrysanthemum; it's bright and makes people happy when they see it," Juugo mumbled.

I couldn't help but blush; people never really ever said anything like that to me. Most people always said I was short which was true; I was only 4 feet 11 inches, just shy of 5 feet.

"So, do you get fed often?" I asked curiously. Juugo had finished his meal in 2 minutes. He had cleaned the whole bowl so nothing was left.

"Only when Kabuto remembers I'm here," he replied. Well, that wouldn't do. I couldn't have Juugo starve; he was my friend. He was a really large person, so he needed the food. I made up my mind, Juugo was going to stay in my room from now on so Kabuto would have to bring both of us food.

"Come on. You're going to be staying in my room from now on," I stated without hesitation. Juugo looked scared at the thought of leaving his box. He shook his head vigorously and looked at the wall. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up; he was way too heavy for me.

"Juugo, don't be stubborn. I promise, as a friend, that nothing bad will happen. Do you trust me enough to be your friend and helper?" I half begged and asked. He looked at me as if pondering this idea.

"If I lose control and try you kill you promise me you'll kill me first," he demanded. I shook my head. I couldn't kill Juugo, he was too nice.

"Then I won't leave." He stood his ground and looked me straight in the eye. What happened to the timid Juugo? He would be more willing to listen to me.

"Ack, alright I promise that if you go crazy I'll k...stop you," I relented. I couldn't say kill, not to him. Juugo seemed satisfied with my answer and got up. I shut his door and we started to walk to my room.

His body seemed very stiff as if he was afraid he'd break any second now. I held his hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. He seemed to relax a bit more. This was a good sign; it meant he was starting to trust me.

"Callia, are you in your room?" I knocked lightly on her door. I heard her footsteps as she came to open it.

"What's up Kiku?" Her eyes widened when she saw Juugo behind me. I smiled at her as she stared.

"Juugo this is one of my best friends, Callia. Callia this is Juugo; he'll be staying in my room from now on," I said in my serious voice; I hardly used it. Her mouth fell opened and she kept staring at Juugo. Then she shut her mouth and glared at me.

"Kiku are you crazy or just plain nuts? You can't have a guy sleep in your room," she shouted.

"Maybe I'm a little bit of both. Cal, Juugo won't hurt me; he's not like that. Anyways you can trust me; I can take care of myself, mother," I half mocked.

She rolled her eyes at me. She grumbled a 'fine' but gave me a warning look. That meant she would be checking in on us to make sure I was okay.

"Thanks, Mommy!" I exclaimed. I gave her a hug.

"Yeah, whatever. Just be good, okay?" Her eyes softened as she stared at me. I nodded and took Juugo to the room across the hall. As I opened the door, I saw Kabuto walking down. His mouth fell open when he saw Juugo out of his box.

"W-w-what i-is he doing o-out of h-his c-cage?" Kabuto sputtered. I sighed at his lame reaction, seriously he was a ninja he should be able to act calm.

"Juugo is staying in my room from now on. You'll have to bring us both a meal. I don't care what Orochimaru has to say. If he wants me to stay here, then Juugo gets to room with me," I said firmly. I then closed the door on his face; I could hear him grumbling as he walked to tell Orochimaru what I said. Kabuto was so annoying sometimes.

"Okay, Juugo you get the bed I'll take the couch. I doubt you could fit on the couch, anyways." I eyed the lumpy couch was too small for him and the bed would be big enough for him to sleep in.

"I can't do that; I'll sleep on the floor instead," he argued. I didn't want to fight with him, so I thought up a solution.

"Fine, how about this then: we'll both sleep on the bed together. You keep to one side I'll stay on the other. I trust you enough to know that you won't try anything. Now don't argue with me, you either agree or I'm sleeping on the couch," I threatened. Juugo let out a sigh and sat on the couch.

_Victory for me! Point for Kiku and 0 for Juugo...no wait I had to make the stupid promise. So 1 point for Kiku and 1 point for Juugo. Aww, we're tied..._

I went and took a shower. Good thing I had a screen to separate the bathroom from the other part of the room. I quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Juugo took a shower and I had

Kabuto give him some clean clothes. White pants and white, long sleeved shirt; so much white.

"Well, good night Juugo," I whispered as I snuggled under the covers and turned to face the wall. Juugo got into bed hesitantly. I could feel his weight bring the bed down.

"Night Kiku," he replied softly. I could feel his body heat and it felt nice. There wasn't a lot of room on the bed, but that was okay; I felt safe. I yawned and closed my eyes. I had a dreamless sleep.

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><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

I rolled over on my bed and sighed; I couldn't sleep. I got up and fumbled around for a match and the candle. After a while I was finally able to light the candle. It gave the room a soft and eerie glow.

On my table sat a couple of books, useless to me since I couldn't read a word, and a ring. I picked the ring up and inspected it. It was the ring that all Akatsuki members had; this one belonged to Orochimaru.

I had found it while exploring Kabuto's lab. He wasn't there when I went, so I did a little snooping. I found the ring on a severed hand, Orochimaru's hand to be exact. It was kind of gross, but I was really curious and just took the ring.

Hopefully Orochimaru and Kabuto wouldn't notice it was gone. I took the ring and strung it on a chain and put it around my neck, hiding it under my shirt. It might come in handy sooner or later.

I opened my door and went to peek into Kiku's room. She and Juugo were fast asleep on the bed. Somehow Juugo had gotten his arms wrapped around Kiku's waist and she was snuggled into his chest. I giggled; they looked so cute and peaceful. I closed the door and walked around the halls.

_Maybe a nice long walk will get me a little tired. I can't believe Kiku is not scared to be in Orochimaru's hideout. Well she was always a little crazy...I'm not that scared either. Maybe it's because I know Sasuke will be killing Orochimaru soon. I wonder if-_

I heard some whispering behind a large door. It sounded like Kabuto and, maybe, Orochimaru. Then I heard a hacking cough and someone spitting something out. I peeked in the door crack and saw Orochimaru sitting in his bed. He looked worn out and there was some blood on his sheets. Kabuto was holding some clear liquid.

"Here, Orochimaru-sama, take this. You need to take the rank ten medicine now," Kabuto commented blandly. Orochimaru looked really bad, but after taking the medicine he looked better. He suddenly looked up. Ii looked like he was staring right at me; I ran away before I could find out.

_Orochimaru is really sick. He'll probably be killed by the end of the month. By the time he's killed, Sasori, Hidan and Kakuzu will dead. Next Akatsuki member to die would be Deidara. I really don't want him to die..._

I thought about this. Sasuke would kill him, but maybe I could convince him not to kill him. That would mean that Kiku and I would have to travel with him, though. I didn't think I could be near him that long before trying to kill him.

I would have to learn how to be a ninja before that time. I had to become strong enough to support myself in this world and so would Kiku. We would have to start training tomorrow.

_Azula, Eri, I hope you two are safe. I hope we meet each other soon. I miss the C.A.K.E Girls; we need to find each other somehow._

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/13/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

"Oww!"

"You should've been ready."

"Well, you could've told me you were going to do that!"

"On a battlefield ninjas won't ask you if you're ready or not," Temari lectured. I rolled my eyes at her.

She and I were sparring, again. It's been a month since Azula and I've been here. We still haven't found Kiku or Callia. Temari had just hit me with a wind attack and I wasn't prepared. I got thrown a couple of feet away from where I previously stood.

I rubbed my back and glared at her. Glancing over I saw Kankuro and Azula sparring as well. She seemed to be really mad at Kankuro for some reason and wasn't giving him any mercy. Those two always seemed to fight, Kankuro just never knew when to quit bothering Azula.

Looking back at Temari I really wish I had brought my katanas. I had found them in a weapons store and just had to get them. The blades were very thin, but could cut through stone. It reminded me of my kendo practice sword, kind of.

Azula had gotten a bow and arrows. The bow was made of a very strong wood that was very hard to break. The arrows were sharp, and if she infused a little chakra in it, they could shatter boulders. She took archery lessons from some ninja in the village. She, also, learned a summoning jutsu that made more arrows if she ever ran out. Right now we both had left our weapons in our rooms, though.

"Okay, let us start again," I huffed.

I readied myself this time. Temari than attacked. I dodged her kunai and ran behind her. I threw some kunais with paper bombs, but she moved out of the way. The whole ground shook as they exploded. When the smoke cleared she wasn't there anymore. I tried to find her chakra, but I could only sense Azula's and Kankuro's chakra.

_She has to be here somewhere, but where. This would be the best time to use my earth based techniques I've been practicing. _

I concentrated and put my hand on the ground. A rush of images passed through my mind. I saw the people shopping in the markets and children running around playing games. Then I saw her; Temari was hiding behind a large sand dune to my far right.

"Found you," I mumbled to myself. I quickly did a teleportation jutsu. Temari looked surprised when I appeared behind her. I quickly did some more hand signs.

"Doton: Kengan no Jutsu." My right hand became encased in stone. I punched, but Temari dodged just in time. The sand dune blew up and I closed my eyes as sand got in my face. I spun around, but couldn't see with all the grains in my eyes.

"Move and you die," Temari warned. I blinked and could see a kunai pointed at my neck. I groaned and could feel a pout forming.

"No fair," I whined. Temari chuckled while putting the kunai away.

"You're going to pay for breaking Karasu!" Kankuro screamed.

"Sorry if I broke your dolly, drama queen. It's your fault for trying to look up my dress you perv!" Azula yelled, louder. I groaned.

_Why can't they get along? _

Ever since we've been here, Azula has been acting less shy and more open and brave. It's good to see her stand up for herself, but she needs to make nice with Kankuro before I kill them both.

Kankuro needed to learn to respect Azula's personal space. He always seemed to be doing something perverted. He never bothered me; he usually just messed up my hair. Staying with the sand siblings made me feel as if I was part of the family; Azula felt the same way. She still had a mega crush on Gaara, but couldn't seem to talk to him without blushing.

"Hey guys, we're going to eat. If you two are done fighting then you should come with us," Temari offered.

Azula glared at Kankuro one last time and came toward me. Kankuro looked really pissed, but went with us to eat. We went to a small restaurant and sat down. It was getting a little too hot so I took my coat and scarf off.

People stared at my marking on my neck, but I paid them no mind. Temari, Kankuro and Gaara had asked about it when I had forgotten to put my scarf on. I just told them it was a tattoo. Azula no longer wore her arm bandages to cover the same marking on her wrist. Her mark was white while mines was a dark brown color. I had a triangle that pointed to the left instead of down like Azula's did.

"What can I get you?" Our waitress asked. She looked bored out of her mind. Kankuro gave her a flirtatious smile and she returned it. We ordered some jasmine tea and some soup. When the waitress left Azula kicked Kankuro under the table.

"What ya do that for?" He threw her a dirty look.

"Stop flirting with the waitress. It's so gross! Do this when I'm not around because I'd like to keep my food down," Azula hissed at Kankuro. It was kinda gross to see the waitress flirt shamelessly.

"Oh please. You just wish I would flirt with you," he mocked.

"Not in a million years doll boy. I'm not into guys who wear makeup or who look like walking cats." It was true, Kankuro did look like a cat when he had his hood on.

"Well, at least I can approach a girl. You can't even talk to my brother and you've spent a month living with us," he spat.

"Shut up you baka!" Azula's face turned really red, and she looked like she could blow any minute. Suddenly she got up and left. I didn't even have time to call her back. Temari was about to get up but I stopped her.

"Let her be. When she's like this she just needs time to blow off steam. She'll be better later," I said, firmly.

I turned to glare at Kankuro. "You need to stop messing with her. She may act strong, but she's really breakable. Back home people would bully her and she couldn't stand up to them. Here, I believe, she feels she needs to act tough."

Azula had cried once here. It was after a ninja insulted her and called her a weak string bean. Azula acted like it didn't bother her, but when no one was around she cried her eyes out. I usually stayed up late to comfort her. We ate in silence after, even Kankuro had stopped flirting with the waitress. I just hoped that Azula would be all right.

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

I couldn't help but break down. Kankuro was right, I couldn't even talk to Gaara after living a whole month in the same house as him. I could talk to everyone else, but I couldn't seem to muster up the courage to talk to him.

I sat outside on top of a large rock overlooking the desert. The sun was starting to set and it would be getting cold soon. I sat there for awhile and just stared. I felt someone coming toward me. I turned around to see Gaara walking toward me.

My heart seemed to race faster as I met his eyes. I could feel my cheeks getting warmer. I averted my gaze. I couldn't look at him for too long. He sat down next to me and didn't say a word. I kept fidgeting with the hem of my dress and tried to come up with something to say.

"Why are you out here?" His voice broke the silence. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

_Great! I can't even say anything to him. I must look like a fish with my mouth open like this. Come on Azula you can do it._

"Uh, t-this is m-my spot I g-go to w-when I w-want to b-be a-a-alone," I stuttered. He looked at me and then went back to looking at the sunset. I gazed at him and could feel my cheeks get warm again. He was so handsome and his face was so beautiful.

"Do you like it here?" he asked, suddenly. His question threw me off. Why was he asking me this after I've been here for a whole month?

"Yes, I love it here. I love the people; they're so friendly," I answered. I really wanted to say that I loved him, but that would be too much.

"What do you think about my brother...and sister?" So he wanted to know if I liked them. Well, this was certainly different.

"Well, Temari is like an older sister to me now. She's a wonderful person. She's been helping me by giving me tips on how to fight. I admire her because she's so strong willed and kind too. I want to be like her, to be brave and strong," I mumbled.

Temari was the kind of person I wish I could be. She was everything I wasn't. She was strong, brave, kind, and spoke her mind. She didn't take anyone's crap.

"What about Kankuro..." His eyes remained fixed in front of him.

"Oh, him. He's obnoxious and a giant flirt. He'll chase after anything that has boobs and he doesn't think twice on dumping a girl for another. He's such a womanizer and his face paint is weird. Also, what kind of shinobi wears all black in the middle of a desert? He's such a baka; he's always teasing me and being a pervert. He treats Eri with better respect than he does me," I ranted.

Gaara was really quiet; I started getting nervous. Maybe, I had said too much about his brother and he didn't like it. I had gotten into quite a rant.

"Azula," he whispered. It was the first time Gaara has ever said my name.

I turned toward him, he was standing up, and he was looking right at me. He leaned closer and my eyes widened. Was he going to kiss me? I felt my breath hitch and my face felt like it was on fire. I really wish I had some water with me right now.

His hand tilted my chin up toward him. If he were sitting down, I would be taller than him, by a little. He looked me in the eyes and I saw something. I couldn't describe what it was; but it looked fear and confusion. Fear that I would turn him away and confusion about me in general.

His lips finally touched mine and they felt so soft; I felt like I was melting. I didn't move, I couldn't believe that Gaara was kissing me. He smelled like jasmine and a faint smell of fresh wind. All too quickly he pulled away. When I blinked he was gone.

_Oh. My. God! Did that just happen!?_

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

"You're weak," Sasuke said, plainly. I growled at him. He kept saying I was weak every time I lost to him in our training. I really wanted to kill the little jerk.

"You've had your whole life to play ninja while I've only been at this for a month. Stop calling me weak; just because I can't beat you doesn't make me weak!" I glared at Sasuke and he just looked at me with a bored expression.

"You're such an ass you know that!" I growled.

"Hn."

I screamed at him. I was so frustrated. Not once when we trained did he ever say anything nice or encouraging. I couldn't stand him; especially when he just said 'hn' most of the time. I didn't understand why Kiku had a crush on this guy. Sure she was drawn toward the bad boys, but he was a jerk. The only time he actually talks is when he's talking to Orochimaru.

I looked to see if Kiku had heard anything, but she was sitting in the corner talking to Juugo. Juugo was listening intently to what she was saying. Kiku trained with Sasuke too, but she sometimes got so nervous that she couldn't focus. Her crush on him seemed to be fading, though.

"Callia, could you calm down a little. I would like to keep this room from burning down too," Kabuto warned.

I glanced at around the room and noticed that all the torches were flaring very brightly. Sparks were flying out of them and anything could catch fire right now. I tried to calm down by breathing slowly; the torches seemed to get lower and calmed down as well. I had burned down two training rooms because I got mad at Sasuke. Orochimaru said I had to learn to control my temper.

"Kiku, you want to go outside for a while?" I asked, wanting to get away from the ass of an avenger. The 'outside' was actually an area that was blocked from escaping by high walls and some explosive traps. It was the closest we could get to fresh air.

Kiku nodded and got up; Juugo followed her. Juugo seemed to be following Kiku wherever she went. He was always with her; when she had training, he would watch her. I don't think Kiku really knew why Juugo followed her around. She assumed it was because he was afraid he would lose control when she was gone. Sometimes she was so dense.

During our month here I had learned that my chakra was fire type. Kiku had said it made sense since I had a really bad temper. We had kept quiet about where we came from and what we knew.

Kiku and I had decided to hide the strange markings from Orochimaru. We were still waiting for him to die. He didn't look so well anymore and mainly stayed in bed. Kabuto seemed to be giving him more medicine more frequently.

It was only a matter of time before Sasuke deemed him useless and kill him. Surprisingly, Orochimaru and Kabuto hadn't noticed that I had stolen the ring; I still had it. Orochimaru allowed both of us to have weapons of our own.

Kiku, having taken fencing classes for a long time, took up a silver sword. It wasn't thin like Sasuke's katana, but it wasn't a huge sword like Kisame's either. She could use her lightning chakra and turn her sword into a kind of lightning rod. Trust me it hurt like hell when you got zapped by that thing.

I had decided on a pair of daggers. The were in the shape of a trident and had blood red handles. I could use my fire chakra and make both blades catch fire. I'dbeen practicing on some new moves; I wasn't going to waste them on Sasuke, though.

Kiku, Juugo, and I walked around outside. It was sunny out and there was a light breeze. It was so peaceful. Juugo, somehow, attracted birds and he would play with them.

He was very gentle person when he wasn't going crazy. He had only gone crazy twice and both times Kiku had managed to calm him down. She had to shock him slightly but he would always come back to his senses. I always saw Sasuke watching Juugo; he wanted to recruit him for his group later on, but I wondered if Juugo would leave Kiku.

We all sat under a shady tree and relaxed. I stared up at the clouds. They looked so soft and fluffy; not a care in the world.

_God I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru... _

Kiku started to hum a lullaby and I drifted off toward sleep. It was so nice just to stop and stare at the clouds for once; no fighting and no Orochimaru. My peace, sadly, was short lived.

_BOOOM!_

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

I jumped up when I heard the loud sound. It had come from inside the lair. I knew instantly what was going on. Sasuke must be attacking Orochimaru. I looked at Callia and she nodded to me, confirming my suspicion.

We both started to run back; Juugo right on our heels. When we got to Orochimaru's room, there was blood everywhere. I felt like I was going to puke; so much blood. Juugo looked rigid as he stared at the blood and I had a feeling it wasn't a good idea for him to follow us.

"Juugo, why don't you wait in our room?" I advised. I pushed him in the opposite direction and he walked away stiffly.

Callia and I poked our heads in the room and saw Sasuke standing there. Orochimaru's snake skin lay on the ground. In the anime he looked gross, but in real life it was even worse. Sasuke turned and looked at us with a bored expression. For the first time all I felt was disgust toward him. Usually when he looked at me, my heart would flutter, but now I felt nothing.

How could you kill someone and not feel any remorse for them? Even I felt bad for Orochimaru to die _this_ way.

"Well, since you've killed Orochimaru, Kiku and I can finally leave. Thanks for at least doing that, Sasuke," Callia said. She turned around and walked off to her room; she wanted to collect her stuff. I gave him one last look and followed. Kabuto had just come and he looked in disbelief at Sasuke.

When I got to my room, Juugo was sitting on the bed holding his head. I grabbed my bag. I stuffed some medical supplies, weapons, food, water and a map. I strapped my sword to my back and looked around. I had everything I could need for this trip; I decided to grab a medical book and maybe learn to heal a little.

Now, what to do about Juugo. I liked him; he was like a big brother to me and a little brother at the same time. I didn't want to leave him, especially not with Sasuke to use him. I don't think Callia would mind if he came with us.

"Juugo, I'm leaving with Callia to go and find my friends. Do you want to come with us?" I asked. He looked at me; I saw terror and sadness in his eyes. I guess he didn't want me to leave him alone. I really didn't either; I always felt better around him.

"I'll come with you, if that's alright with Callia," he answered, quietly. Callia wouldn't mind. Anyways traveling with a guy is better than two girls alone in an unknown world.

Juugo grabbed some stuff and we headed out. Callia was waiting for us. When she saw Juugo, she raised an eyebrow; the look I gave her told her everything she needed to now.

"Okay, lets get going," she commanded; Callia was always a good leader. I nodded and we started to head out, but Sasuke stopped right in front of the exit.

"Wait," he said. He stared at Juugo and then back at me and Callia.

"Juugo I want you to join my team. I promise to keep you under control," he offered.

I rolled my eyes. That was the worst proposition I have ever heard. I could keep Juugo under control and have been for a whole month. Anyways, Juugo trusted me more than anyone, Sasuke should've talked to him a long time ago if he wanted Juugo to join him.

Juugo shook his head. "I'm not leaving Kiku."

Sasuke glared at me. I shivered at the killing intent I felt. I looked at Callia for help. I didn't want a fight to break out. Sasuke could probably kill us even if we teamed up.

"Kiku and I are looking for our friends. We can't play avenging team for you," Callia stated; she crossed her arms defensively. His hand twitched toward his katana. I swallowed my nerves.

"If Juugo comes with you, then Callia and I are too. You'll have to allow us try and find our friends," I croaked, the proposition sounded dumb, but I hoped he would take it.

Searching in a group would be much better than just a two person team. I had a feeling that Eri and Azula may have ended up with the 'good guys' and Sasuke does bump into the Naruto team. Callia gave me a look at my plan. We held a silent conversation. The C.A.K.E Girls were known for being able to communicate with just looks. It annoyed the heck out of people but we enjoyed that no one could understand what we were saying.

"Hn." He turned away from us and started to walk down the hall. The three of us just stood there wondering what to do. Sasuke stopped and turned his head to glare at us. His look seemed to be asking if we were coming or not.

Callia shook her head and started to follow him. Juugo glanced at me; I just shrugged my shoulders before I started to follow the two. Time for us to start a new adventure.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Doton: Kengan no Jutsu: <strong>__Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique _

**Kitkat d(^.^)b**


	6. Chapter 6

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/19/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just my OCs **

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

I came back home to find Eri drawing at the table. Temari was trying to cook something, but it smelled really bad. Gaara wasn't there and neither was Kankuro. The kiss with Gaara still ran through my mind; I couldn't stop smiling. I still don't understand why he left right after. I would have to ask him; that is if I had the guts to ask.

"Hey, what's for dinner?" I asked, not really wanting to know.

Temari looked frustrated as she tried to cook. There was some black smoke coming from the pot. She looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel with the look she had. Finally she seemed to give up; she threw the pot against the wall, where it broke and spilled out some black stuff.

"Forget this. Lets get take out," she growled. Eri and I silently agreed. Temari's cooking could have you in the hospital for a week if you weren't careful.

Eri and Temari went out to get the food and I decided to watch t.v. I would've rather read a book, but I can't read Japanese at all. Eri's the only one who actually uses the library. I was flipping through the channels when the I heard the door open and close.

_Wow, they're back early. I guess that's a perk of being a ninja; being super fast._

"Temari, Eri you back already? That was one fast pick up." There was no reply so I looked up. It was Kankuro not the two girls. He walked in and looked at the broken pot with the deadly black food. Kankuro wrinkled his nose.

"Temari tried to cook, again." he stated.

"Yup. This time she gave up. She and Eri are going to pick some food up instead," I informed. He nodded and mumbled a 'thank goodness' and plopped down next to me. We watched the show in silence. I wasn't really paying attention, I was thinking about Gaara again. He smelled really good in a weird way. I really didn't know wind could have a smell. I guess since he travels, he would smell like fresh air. Does every male have a certain smell?

"Hey Kankuro?" I glanced at him.

"Yeah?" he mumbled. He was focused on the show.

"Uh, I know this is going to sound weird but can I smell your face?" That got his attention. He gave me the what-the-hell look. It sounded really weird, especially coming from a person he usually argues with 24/7.

"Well, I was curious to know if everyone has a unique...smell. I mean, I don't go sniffing people, but I was curious," I babbled. I didn't look at him. This was so embarrassing. I felt so stupid.

_Why the hell did I ask him that? I sound like a freak._

"Uh, I guess if you want." I was surprised he actually agreed. I leaned closer to his face until I was only a few inches away. Okay, I know this might look like we were going to kiss but trust me that wasn't going to happen. The door suddenly opened and I jerked back, almost falling over. Kankuro looked away as Temari, Eri and Gaara came in. They all gave us a weird look.

"Hey, guys, ah you got the food," I said. Eri looked at me, but I stared intently at the floor.

"Yeah, we did. What were you two-" Temari began.

"Let's eat!" I exclaimed and jumped up to take the bags from Temari's hands. She looked confused since I interrupted her. I wasn't going to tell her what I was doing; it would sound too weird. Everyone was eating silently, and Kankuro and I didn't look at each other. Gaara didn't eat too much of the food. He got up and looked at all of us.

"I have something important to say." We all looked up at him.

"Eri and Azula will be going to Konohagakure tomorrow. Kankuro and Temari, you two are going with them. You'll be leaving in the morning," he informed, his facial expression blank.

"Why are we going to Konoha?" Eri inquired and looked at Gaara confusingly.

"The Hokage is interested in you two girls. She would like to meet you in person and have a little chat about some things. I will be too busy to come so I'm sending Kankuro and Temari as your escorts," he explained.

"How long will we be there?" I wanted to know how long I would be away from Gaara.

"As long as Tsunade wants you two. Kankuro be on your best behavior while there; don't embarrass our village," he ordered, looking only at Kankuro.

"Hey, why are you just telling me? What about those two," he protested. I smirked at him. Gaara trusted us not to cause trouble, but he didn't trust his own brother.

"Kankuro, I haven't forgotten what happened last time we visited Konoha. I believe Temari, Eri and Azula will be on their best behavior. It is you I'm not so sure of. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more work to do." With that Gaara left us alone. I didn't want to be away from Gaara, though. We finished eating and I went to my room. I didn't even bother taking my shoes off as I fell in my bed.

_This might be fun. I'll get to meet new people, maybe even Team 7. That would be cool to meet the main character of my favorite anime/manga. I'm going to miss you, Gaara. Kankuro smelled weird...like wood...it wasn't a bad smell..._

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

_Why? Why does the world hate me? _

Right now I was walking through the forest 'looking' for Itachi Uchiha with his brother. I really didn't want to be with him; I wouldn't mind being with Suigetsu or, even, Karin. I had to end up on a search party with the emotionless, chicken ass Uchiha. At least Kiku was safe with Juugo; I was glad about that. Sasuke probably wants to be as far away from Karin as possible; she was flirting with him the whole way here. I kept grumbling as we walked to who the hell knows where.

"Where are we going?" I asked, exasperated. I really wanted to know. If we were just walking around in circles then I would leave him. I didn't get a response from him. I really wanted to deck him on the head, but he'd move before I got an inch closer.

"Aren't you the talkative one? You know when someone asks you a question you're suppose to answer," I snarked. Sasuke's attitude made me bitchy at times.

"Hn," he grunted.

"That's not an answer. That's more of a grunt. Are you a caveman or something?" I got no reply, again. He probably didn't know what a caveman was anyways. I wasn't paying attention when I bumped into Sasuke's back. He had just stopped so suddenly so I wasn't expecting to walk smack into his back.

"Why are we stopping?" I said while rubbing my nose. His back was hard and my nose kind of hurt from colliding with it. I peeked in front of him and saw that we stood looking at nothing but flat land and a couple of bushes.

_Since when did we get out of the forest? I haven't been paying attention...oh well._

"I know someone's there...show yourself," he ordered, sharply.

"Uh, Sasuke that someone is me. I've been following you the whole time in case you forgot. You must be-"

"So, you're Sasuke-kun! You really do look like Itachi-san!" I turned around to see a man wearing the Akatsuki coat and an orange swirl mask. His voice was kind of like a little kid voice; it sounded whiny. I couldn't believe it was Tobi; this was my lucky day. I love Tob - not as much as Deidara - because he acted so adorable. I don't like Madara, though, because he's just plain evil. I couldn't help but squeal as my inner fangirl came out.

"OMG, it's Tobi! You're so adorable! EEEK!" I glomped him before he could move. If I don't get killed for hugging the most evilest guy in the world then I must be extremely lucky. Some of my rational sense came back and I decided to get off him. When I got off, Tobi ran away back into the forest leaving a trail of dust.

"Aww. Tobi come back. I won't hurt you," I cooed. I turned toward Sasuke and saw he had a I'm-going-to-kill-him-because-he-said-I-look-like-Itachi look on his face. I looked back at the forest and then back at Sasuke. I felt like I was forgetting something important. It felt like something was going to happen and I should move before it does. I couldn't place my finger on it and I kept pondering for a while.

"Hmm, something is suppose to happen but what? I think it might be important and it might save my life." I kept mumbling until I saw a feather fall down. It didn't look like a bird's feather, though. It looked like it was made of clay.

_Clay! Shit! I'm gonna get bombed to death by Deidara. Don't kill me Deidara I haven't told you I love you! Ack...no time for stupid fangirl moment._

I looked up and saw a giant bird. Yup that had to be Deidara. No bird would look like that; it looked kind of weird. I saw him staring at us and then he released an object. It fell really fast and it exploded.

I moved but not fast enough. I felt the wind knocked out of me and felt searing pain on my shoulder. Now I know what getting third degree burns feels like. It hurt a lot, more than a lot. I rolled across the ground and hit a tree. My back would be bruised by tomorrow. I opened my eyes to see Deidara standing in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke had protected himself with a giant snake. He didn't even have a scratch on him. I felt angry because he didn't even bother to look my way or protect me. Wasn't a team member suppose to protect the other one and help them if needed? Well, Sasuke was the worst team member in the world!

"You! You chicken ass bastard! All you care about is yourself and you don't even protect your teammates! What kind of human being are you, wait I forgot you're not even human!" I screamed while getting back up. I winced as I jabbed my finger at him. My arm still hurt, so using it wasn't a good idea.

"Hn." His sharingan was already activated.

"Is that all you can say? You're such a bastard! You block of ice! You have no heart and if you did I would rip it out right now! I don't even know why I came on this stupid trip! You haven't even helped me find my friend!. We've been looking for your precious Itachi!" I shouted in frustration.

This guy was going to drag me to insanity. I heard someone cough behind me and remembered we weren't alone. Well, I have a bad temper so I snapped at the person behind me; I was being stupid.

"What! Can't you see I'm having a conversation! Don't interrupt you-" I stared at blue cerulean eyes, more like eye since one was covered with hair, blond hair tied in a half ponytail. I gulped when I realized who I was yelling at.

_Omg! It's Deidara! I think I could die right now. I just yelled at him! What the hell is wrong with me! Ack...I'm being stupid...wait he almost killed me...I don't care I still like him...I'm crazy..._

My face went through different emotions; I could just hear the other girls say I was having a spaz attack. Deidara took my look of surprise for fear because he gave me a smug look. He stepped closer and I stepped back.

"What's the matter, yeah? You're not scare are you, yeah?" He mocked. He grinned at me with a glint in his eye. I had to snap out of my daze or I would end up blown into pieces. Deidara started to make a bomb; my head said move but my body wouldn't. Seeing your anime crush up close just makes a girl freeze in place. Before he could do anything, though, a voice spoke out.

"Deidara-sempai, don't kill the little girl. Leader-sama says he wants us to bring her back to base. Tobi is a being a good boy by following his orders," Tobi cheered.

"When the hell did he say that, yeah?" Deidara gave an annoyed look to his partner. I guess he was mad he wouldn't be blowing me up.

"While you were busy Deidara-sempai, Leader-sama told Tobi 'cause he's a good boy!" He waved his arms around. I felt my body go stiff. I don't mind Tobi and Deidara, but I'm scared of Pein. I looked over toward Tobi and gulped. His single sharingan was swirling as he looked at me. I had a feeling it was more of Madara's idea to kidnap me than Pein's.

"Uh, I would love to stay and get kidnapped but I have to go and, uh, take a shower!" I wanted to smack myself for such a lame excuse; all my rationality disappeared the moment I came to this world. That was the best I could do while under the intense gaze of Madara. I started to back up, but bumped into Sasuke. I forgot he had been standing there the whole time.

"Sasuke! My good friend. Let's get going, shall we," I pleaded. Sasuke just gave me a blank look and ignored me. Well, if he wasn't going to leave I would. I forgot my plan to somehow save Deidara and started to leave. Tobi was standing in front of me as I tried to sneak away.

"Eeep! Please let me go. I know who you really are." I whispered the last part so only he could hear. Deidara and Sasuke wouldn't have heard because they were too busy having a staring contest. His eye narrowed as he studied me.

"I know who you are too, Callia." His voice was low and menacing; no more high pitched voice. I shivered at the sound of it. I turned and bolted the other way but he was there already. I couldn't think clearly as fear seized me. Before I knew it something hit the back of my head. I felt my world fade away as I fell.

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

I groaned. I was so bored. Me and Juugo walked around the other side of the forest but we didn't meet anyone. This was so boring and I had nothing else to do. Juugo was quiet as we walked and I really wanted something to talk about. I can only go so long without talking.

"So..." I started.

"..." Juugo gave me a quizzical look. He wasn't the most talkative person in this world.

"You wanna go find Sasuke and Callia?" I asked.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, and no way was I looking for Karin. I mean Suigetsu is fine, but Karin annoys the hell out of me. She thinks she's better than everyone. Juugo gave a shrug and we headed in the direction they went. As we walked the silence became even more silent; if that's even possible. I was about to say something when I saw a large cloud of smoke ahead of us. My mind went into instant panic mode.

_Callia was heading in that direction! What if she's hurt? I have to do something!_

I sprinted off toward the smoke. I could hear Juugo running after me. As we got closer I saw something that made me stop. Standing in the clearing was Sasuke glaring at a familiar blond. Next to the blond was a large clay bird. The bird was holding a body and another person was standing on it. I saw red hair and knew it was Callia. She wasn't moving; my breathing went ragged. The man standing on top of the bird had a swirling orange mask: Tobi/Madara.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my friend!" I screeched. I couldn't hold my anger down. Callia's right arm seemed to be bleeding and burnt; she was hurt. My blood was boiling; how dare anyone hurt one of my best friends. I growled as I ran forward. I wasn't thinking straight; I just attacked.

I charged at Tobi/Madara, but he moved out of the way. I landed on the other side of the clay bird. I pulled out a kunai and charged again. This time I landed on top of the bird and tried to stab him. I tumbled right through his body.

I forgot he could do that. How was I suppose to attack someone when I couldn't even touch them. I tried to punch and kick him but Tobi/Madara, definitely Madara right now, blocked all my attacks.

"Stop moving you old bastard! I'll kill you for hurting her!" I growled. I kicked his feet from under him. Madara fell down but landed back on his feet.

I was about to jump down when a small clay bird flew in my face. I tried to turn, but every movement I made seemed slow and sluggish. The bird exploded and I flew off the large bird and hit the ground.

My head throbbed with so much pain; I felt like I was going to black out. My eyes burned and I couldn't open them because they hurt so much. I felt large hands help me up as I staggered onto my feet. I heard the flapping of wings and knew that they were leaving.

"No! Come back! Callia!" I started to cry and shake. Juugo held me as I cried; I was so mad at myself. I couldn't even save my friend. I felt my head spin and I just passed out.

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/19/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

I was cold and my head hurt like hell. I tried to remember where I was but thinking hurt my head. I felt so tired and drained; my body ached, especially my right arm. I heard someone open a door and the slapping of feet coming toward me. The footsteps stopped right near my head and then everything was silent. I heard the person clear their throat and then they lightly kicked my head.

"Get up now." The voice sounded rough and familiar. Where had I heard it before; I tried to remember, but my head throbbed with the effort. When I didn't get up the person kicked my head a little harder and that hurt even more. I growled as the pain shot up and finally lifted my head up and glared. Small black eyes stared back at me as I took in the sight of the person.

_I can't believe it! It's Kisame! Holy cow he really does look like a shark! Ow, my head..._

I looked at his blue skin and saw the gills on his face. I felt the need to touch them, yet I had a feeling he would break my hand if I did that. He was very tall and could easily be a basketball player if he didn't have such big muscles. He could be a boxer or maybe a wrestler. I tried to imagine Kisame being a wrestler when he suddenly grabbed my right arm and started to drag me out of the room.

I yelped as my arm went on fire. He turned to look at me and noticed my injured arm, so he loosened his hold. I silently walked with him as we passed many doors and down many halls. Everything looked the same and I couldn't remember where we went. This place was more confusing than Orochimaru's place.

I knew I had no chance of escape since this was the Akatsuki hideout; filled with the most dangerous S-class criminals in all of the ninja world. I would just have to find out what they wanted with me; more like what Madara wanted with me.

Kisame abruptly stopped at a large door. I collided with his back not watching where I was going.

_Wasn't that the second time I bumped my face into someone's back?_

I rubbed my nose again and, again, the feeling of déjà vu came over me. Kisame gave me a look I couldn't read and then pushed me into the dark room. It was hard to see anything as I tried to make out any shapes.

Finally a person did appear, and I jumped back in surprise. I heard Kisame give a low chuckle. Standing in front of me was Pein or at least a hologram of him; I could see his body flicker so I assumed he wasn't real.

"Hello, Callia." His voice sounded low and dangerous. I felt my body go stiff. The person I was most afraid of was Madara, but Pein was a close second.

_Why must I meet the second person I fear the most? I really want to go back home now._

When I didn't say anything he looked at me; his rinnegan boring into me. I looked away and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came into mind.

After a very long silence I finally managed to squeak out a response. "What do you want from me?" I mentally slapped myself for sounding like a mouse.

He gave me a long look; I just focused my gaze at his chin, not wanting to look into his eyes again.

"I've learned that you know certain things. Things about us and about others. I've also heard that

Orochimaru took you in, and trained you and your friend. I was going to kill you, but I have a much better idea," he explained in a serious tone.

_I don't want to die! I'm still young; I only turned 17 a month ago. I want to grow up and get married and have kids! He's gonna kill me now!_

I really wasn't paying attention to what he was saying after a while. I was thinking about the life I could have if he didn't kill me first.

"So, what do you say." I looked up and blinked. I hadn't heard a word after he had said he was thinking of killing me. I must of looked confused because he looked sort of angry that I hadn't listened to him.

"Uh?" I answered, dumbly.

"I said you will join the Akatsuki." I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised his hand first.

"You already have Orochimaru's ring so all you have to do is to say you'll join and if you don't then I won't hesitate to have you killed," he intoned.

This man was really scary, but I felt myself getting angry. Who was he to tell me what to do? I had every right to say no and yet he was threatening me to join. I forgot that I was talking to a man who could kill me without blinking an eye.

"I'm not joining your murderous group. I don't give two cents if you kill me right now! I rather die than join a group that only kills for the fun of it! You think you're bringing world peace? Killing to get world peace isn't the way to get peace at all! Are you that stupid?" I fumed. and glared at him.

Pein's eyes narrowed at me and my anger started to fade. I gulped as my mind wrapped around the fact that I had yelled at him.

_Why oh why can't I keep my temper down? I can't do anything to protect myself now!_

My chakra, as I noticed, was very low. They probably had Kisame drain it while I was out because I didn't use it back then. I waited for Pein to kill me or have him call someone else to kill me. Nothing happened.

"If you won't join then I'll have to convince you. Itachi." Itachi emerged from the shadows and came toward me. I looked at him and noticed how tired he looked, especially with those line marks down his face. He looked like an old man. I looked up at his eyes, suddenly everything started to change.

_Crap! Never look into Itachi's eyes. I'm stuck in a genjutsu!_

I was no longer in the dark room but in the middle of the forest. I blanched as I saw bodies lying across the floor. Blood was everywhere and the smell filled my senses. I kept telling myself that this wasn't real, but I was slowly losing my mind. I heard someone behind me and turned around, almost crying out when I saw Kiku covered in blood and stabbed with various weapons. She looked at me with fear and pain.

"Callia. H-help me. Y-you're s-suppose to p-protect us." Her voice sounded raspy and then suddenly her head fell off.

I screamed as the blood splattered on my face and body. Standing there was a faceless ninja holding a sword. I couldn't tell if it was a he or she, but blood dripped from it's weapon. I felt my stomach churn and wanted to throw up.

The faceless ninja suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kiku's head had rolled at my feet and her lifeless eyes stared back at me. I turned away, my eyes landed on Eri and Azula. My heart lifted as I finally saw them.

"Callia? W-what h-happened?" Azula started to cry and Eri looked close to crying as well.

I stepped toward them, but then I saw the faceless ninja behind them. I froze and I tried to find the words to yell at them. With one swift motion it cut off their head and their blood splattered on me as well.

Now I had all three of their blood on me and I watched in horror as their severed head rolled at my feet. I felt hot tears falling down my face as I looked away. I came face to face with the ninja. Slowly the faceless ninja started to form a face and I gasped. Staring back at me was my own face. My eyes were filled with hatred and blood lust and I had a crazed smile.

"Y-you're not me!" I screamed at it. It's smile just got bigger.

"Callia, how could you let us die?" I looked down as the heads of my friends as they started to talk. Their eyes were dull, but they looked back at me as their mouths moved in sync. I screamed even louder and crumbled to the floor. I curled my body into a ball and cried.

"Stop! Please just stop! I'll do anything, just stop!" I begged. I kept crying as the forest returned back into the dark room. There was no blood and no bodies or heads. I saw Itachi's feet but didn't bother to look up. Instead I scrambled farther away from him and kept crying. I mentally added him to the list of people I feared the most.

"Good, I'm glad you decided to join. Konan will take you to a room and give you a robe later. You must wear the cloak whenever you're on a mission and must wear the ring all the time so that we may contact each other if need be," Pein ordered.

Even though I was crying I scoffed when he said that I had "decided to join." Someone bent down and gently pulled me up.

I looked at blue purple eyes that didn't look so mean. I could finally see everyone that was in the room. The only people really were Deidara, Tobi, Itachi, Kisame, and Zetsu. I instantly lowered my eyes when I looked at Itachi. He didn't have his sharingan activated any more, but I still felt fear.

I followed Konan without a word. She took me down some more halls until we reached a door. The door had single red stripe on it. Konan opened the door and led me in. I noticed that it was already occupied since there were two beds and one of them wasn't made.

I looked around and saw small clay animals; that should've been a sign to me, but my mind was still a jumbled mess. There was another door that probably led to the bathroom. I felt the need to take a shower right now. Konan handed me a new set of clothes and the Akatsuki ring. I looked at it with distaste and realized that this was the ring that had been around my neck; when had they gotten it off me was beyond my idea.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to room with Deidara since we don't have any other available rooms. You can take a shower, and here are some medical supplies to take care of your arm. I'll be getting you cloak later on." With that Konan left me by myself. I played her words over and then it finally sunk in.

_I'll be sharing a room with Deidara! This is so...cool and terrifying! I can't believe my luck...or misfortune?_

Sure, they probably made me room with him so he could keep an eye on me so I wouldn't try and run away. This wasn't so bad, though. At least I was with my crush.

I walked to the bathroom and locked the door. The bathroom was plain; white floors and white walls. I took my clothes off and started the shower. I hissed as the warm water hit my injured arm. It felt great to finally wash after not taking a shower in a while. My muscles relaxed and I scrubbed dirt out of my hair. I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around me. I inspected my injured arm.

"Holy crap! No wonder it hurt."

I had a burn mark starting from my shoulder down to my elbow. It was dark red and looked like it might scar. I looked through the medical supplies and applied a cream that looked like it might heal the burn mark. I wrapped bandages from my upper arm to my elbow and tied it tightly. The bandages covered the marking on my arm.

I looked the outfit Konan had left for me. I ended up wearing a white sleeveless shirt with black lining and a high collar. The skirt was like my other one except black and I had a pair of shorts under it. I slipped on my sandals and looked at myself in the mirror.

My eyes were slightly red and I had slight bags under them. I decided to put my hair up; I pulled it into a ponytail and looped it into a knot. I didn't have a tie, but doing this would make sure it didn't come out. I stepped out of the bathroom and looked around.

"Finally, you're out, yeah. Why do girls take so long in the bathroom, yeah?" It wasn't really a question, but I couldn't help but answer back.

"I was taking care of my injury that you inflicted," I retorted. He raised an eyebrow at me as if he didn't expect me to talkback.

I didn't dare look into his beautiful cerulean blue eyes knowing I would start to blush like mad. I settled in looking at his forehead instead. He got off his bed and stood in front of me. I gulped at how close he was and settled my eyes on his chest. I could feel my face heating up slightly; hopefully he wouldn't see that.

"You know my face is up here, yeah," he purred. I could hear the amusement in his voice. He was playing around with me. I inched my eyes until they were looking at his chin. My face felt even hotter than before. Why did he have to be so good looking and know it?

"A little higher, yeah." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat but it stayed. Finally I looked up at his eyes. My face was probably the shade of a tomato.

I held my breath as I stared at him. His eyes, or eye, took my breath away. They reminded me of the ocean in Bermuda that I visited last summer. They seemed to be filled with laughter and mild curiosity. He leaned in closer till he was near my ear.

"Your face is really red, yeah. I know I'm good looking and all, but I don't need you trying to jump me, so try and hold yourself, yeah," he whispered.

I could feel Deidara's hot breath and it sent shivers down my back. He stepped back with an amused smile on his face. Then, I realized what he said and felt my face get hotter, but this time with anger. I glared at him and opened my mouth.

"Stop being so conceited! Just because you have a nice face doesn't mean every girl would like you! The thought of me trying to jump _you _has my stomach turn! Anyways I doubt a girl would want to hold your hand, if you know what I mean." I sneered at him and huffed to my bed.

When I'm angry I say things that are either true or not. What I said to Deidara wasn't true. I actually had half the idea to hug him and never let go. I wasn't disgusted with fact that he had mouths on his hands. That was actually fascinating to me. I looked at the wall opposite to me and tried to burn a hole into it with my eyes, but no such luck.

Deidara was chuckling to himself as he entered the bathroom. I guess he didn't believe a word I said. Well, my embarrassed face proved how I really felt toward him. I heard the shower go on and ignored it. I looked around and saw some clay laying on the table near my bed.

It looked like regular clay and it was purple so it must be harmless. I picked it up and started to play around with it, making shapes and stuff. The shower stopped, but I was too engrossed in what I was doing to notice the door of the bathroom opened and that someone was walking toward me.

"You shouldn't touch people's stuff, yeah. that clay is dangerous and can blow up any minute." I jumped and threw the clay across the room when he said that. I looked at him scared and then saw him break out in laughter. I felt confused and looked at the clay I had thrown.

"Your face was priceless, yeah! That clay's harmless but you got so scared, yeah!" he snickered. I scowled at him.

He had lied to me and scared me just to see me squirm. The nerve of him. He wiped away some tears that had formed when he was laughing. He grinned at me and I looked down at his chest. His very well toned and bare chest. My face felt hot again as I looked him. He didn't have anything on except a towel.

"Like the view, yeah." He grinned at me and lifted an eyebrow. I turned my head away as I felt a nosebleed coming on. To see your crush half naked in a picture is different from seeing your crush half naked in real life.

I buried my face in my pillow and gave a weak 'shut up'. He was laughing again at me as he went to his side of the room. Deidara had a nice laugh and it made my stomach fluttering.

"This is gonna be interesting, un," he said. I looked up and he gave me a wicked grin.

_Hell! How am I suppose to survive with him. He's going to embarrass me to death!_

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

I groaned and tried to open my eyes but they felt heavy. I felt a warm hand push me back down as I sat up. I opened my eyes, but all I saw was darkness. I looked and tried to squint but nothing came into view.

"Why is it so dark in here?" The memories of what happened flooded back into my mind. Callia had been kidnapped and I couldn't save her. I clenched my fists on the bed sheets and growled.

"When I get my hands on him I'm gonna ring his neck!" I hissed. I had a feeling that Callia wouldn't be too happy if I killed Deidara. I could sense that Karin, Juugo, Sasuke, and Suigetsu were in the room. Sasuke hadn't even bothered to help Callia or save her when he probably could. Now my anger was pointed to the younger Uchiha.

"What the hell Sasuke! You couldn't save Callia? Why the hell were you just standing there?" I tried to look around, but still my eyes didn't see anything. They really needed to get some lights in here.

"Hn." I gritted my teeth at his one worded answer. He was probably thinking that she was weak to be captured and that she wasn't worth the time to save. I clenched and unclenched my hands and tried to focus in the dark. Finally I gave up and sighed.

"Would someone get some lights in here? It's too freaking dark!" No one answered and I grew impatient. I stumbled out of bed and tried to grope around for something. I suddenly tripped and felt myself pitch forward. Someone grabbed me by my waist and held me from falling.

"Be careful." It was Juugo and I sighed again.

My body ached slightly, but I have a feeling that I had been healed while I was out. I was brought back to the bed and sat down. I looked down trying to see my hands and yet I couldn't. I felt my hair brush against my cheek and froze. Last time I checked my hair had been down to my waist.

"W-what happened? How long was I out?" I swallowed the dread that was pulling up from my stomach.

"Well," that was Karin speaking. "You've been asleep for a day. Your hair had been singed and part of it was burnt so I cut it. Your wounds weren't that bad. Although..." she trailed off.

I lifted an eyebrow in the direction her voice had come from. I felt my hair; she had cut it to my chin, I guess it was in a short bob then. My head did feel lighter now that my hair wasn't so long. It felt kind of good.

"What's the problem then?" Karin had trailed off and I was wondering why. I waited but no answer was supplied. I groaned in frustration.

"Just tell me what's wrong!" I snarled, impatiently.

"Kiku, what do you see?" That was Juugo. His voice was soft but strained. I looked at the direction his voice had come from, which was right next to me.

"Well, I don't see anything at all. You guys don't have the lights on so how can I see?" I asked. There was another long pause and I felt Juugo stiffen next to me. Karin mumbled something while Sasuke remained quiet as well as Suigetsu. Finally Karin broke the silence.

"It seems," I could just imagine her fixing her glasses, "that you can't see. The sun is out and there are windows here. I think that explosion injured your sight."

I sat there quiet as I thought about what she said. The bird had exploded near my face, but wouldn't my face have scars? I felt my face but I didn't feel anything.

"I-I'm blind! I-it can't b-be," I yelled, and started to cry. I was blind. I couldn't see anything and being a ninja meant relying on your senses which included sight. Sasuke wouldn't want me on the team now. He didn't need a handicapped person that would just slow him down on his conquest.

"Can't you fix it? You're a healer, right Karin?" I asked, hopeful. I turned to her direction. I was met with more silence.

"I'm not a medical ninja. I can only heal wounds like cuts and such. You would need a doctor," she replied. When she said doctor, Konohagakure came into mind and Tsunade's image popped in my head. She was a doctor and a very good one. Maybe she could help me, give me an operation to get my sight back.

"Then, I'll go to Konoha. Hokage Tsunade should be able to help me," I mumbled. I could feel Sasuke glaring at me when I mentioned Konoha. He wouldn't want to go back to the place he left. I waited for his reply.

"If you go then you shall go alone. I don't need someone who can't see on my team," he answered, coldly. I knew he wouldn't want me to be in his team. I would somehow have to get to Konoha on my own. How was I going to get there if I couldn't even see where I was?

"Fine. I'm leaving right now." I got off the bed, grabbed my sword, and maneuvered my way around the room. My hands brushed against the wall and I followed it until I felt a door. I opened it and stepped out. I could feel the sun on my face and hear the birds chirping. I walked forward but heard the door open. I turned around; of course didn't see anything.

"Well, who is it?" I inquired. I waited for a reply, but they didn't answer. I sighed and turned around and started to walk, trying not to trip on the uneven ground.

"Kiku?" I stopped and waited for Juugo to keep talking. He was silent again.

"Juugo what is is? Why aren't you with Sasuke?" I heard him walk toward me and waited again.

"I'm coming with you. You can't see so I'll help you," he explained. His voice was quiet and soft. I was afraid to go out alone into the woods because I wouldn't be able to see. If Juugo was with me then I wouldn't have to worry about getting kidnapped or attacked. I had a feeling Sasuke wouldn't be happy to lose one of his team members.

"What about Sasuke? What did he say?" I was curious to know if he had a fit.

"I didn't tell him. I'm more worried about you." I smiled and continued to walk. Juugo wasn't following me.

"Well? Are you coming or not." I sounded like a nagging parent. I heard the ground crunch and started to walk again. Juugo was behind me, making sure I wouldn't fall.

_It's great to have a friend like you, Juugo. I'm glad I met you._

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/19/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (getting tired of typing this) =_=**

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><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

I tossed and turned but couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw my friends dead. On top of that Deidara, my roommate, kept snoring really loudly. He's cute and all, but I'm sick of hearing his snores. I got out of bed and looked over to his side. He was sleeping peacefully while I was still up. I decided to go to the kitchen and have something to drink.

It took me about ten minutes to find the kitchen; I ended up going in a large circle when I realized the kitchen was right next to our room.

_Stupid confusing base. They need signs or something._

I stopped near the doorway hearing voices. I know eavesdropping wasn't a nice thing to do but I was curious on who was up at this time.

"-get them. They are coming from Suna with two escorts. Both of them are girls; try and get both of them if you can." The voice was deep; I couldn't figure out the owner of the voice.

"Alright." The short relay was definitely the voice of Itachi. I wanted to peek in, but I was afraid of what Itachi would do to me if he saw me listening.

"Bring Kisame with you. Tell him its a mission to watch the nine tails for a while. I will tell Pein of my plan so he'll know." So it wasn't Pein; who was it?

"Madara what do you want with these girls?" I almost choked when I heard Itachi call Madara. No wonder I couldn't place the name to the voice; I was more use to his Tobi voice.

I heard rustling and ran down the hall and hid in the corner. I held my breath hoping no one heard me. The door to the kitchen opened and I heard footsteps coming toward me.

_Crap! Please don't find me, don't come any closer!_

I squeezed my eyes shut and crossed my fingers, trying to conceal my chakra as best as I could. The footsteps stopped and then they slowly faded back to the kitchen. I let out a sigh when the door closed again.

_That was a close call. I wonder who Madara wants to kidnap this time. Whoever it is I have a bad feeling about it._

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

Konoha was really...green. That's the first word that came to mind when we finally got there. There were more trees than I was use to seeing; spending a whole month in the desert can make you forget that plants actually exist.

We had gotten to Konoha and were instantly brought to the Hokage, Tsunade. She asked Azula and I a lot of question; mainly on our abilities as ninjas and what we like. It was strange to say the least. I had thought she would ask us about being from another world.

Azula and I had spent most of the days going around the town and exploring. We got a lot of strange looks from people; I guess it was the way we were dressed, even Temari said we dressed different from other ninjas.

_They think we dress weird...what about Naruto? He wears Orange! What ninja wears orange...it's super bright?_

Currently, Azula was with Temari going shopping in the stores and I was eating ramen at Ichiraku's. I had gotten naruto; I had actually snorted when I saw that on the menu. It wasn't bad, but I still like miso soup. I was eating when a very loud voice broke the peaceful atmosphere.

"Man is it great to get ramen again! All this sparring leaves a guy famished!" I winced at the unnecessary loudness of his voice. Sure in the anime it was funny, but in real life it was kind of annoying.

"Naruto! Will you lower your voice!" I heard a loud thwack which I took as a punch to the head. I couldn't help smile as I imagined Naruto rubbing a swelling bump on his head.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. You don't have to hit me, though," he said.

"I still don't understand why you like this place so much. It is just a restaurant; how can you feel love to it?" I snickered at Sai. He really thought Naruto was in love with Ichiraku's like love a person love. He still was a little clueless on emotions and feelings.

"Would you marry Ichiraku's? Although, I can't see how that would be possible since it a restaurant," Sai inquired, still confused.

"Sai, you'll never understand what I see in Ichiraku's. Ichiraku's is the best!" Naruto exclaimed. I turned around to study the group. The really were there in front of me. Naruto took a stool next to me and sat down. I couldn't help but sigh; my quiet lunch was over. I went back to eating my meal.

"Hey!" I looked up at him.

"Ahhh!" He was right in my face. I nearly fell over in my stool. Naruto had a huge grin on his face and was staring at me intently. After my heart stopped beating out of my chest, I glared at him.

"What do you want?" I grumbled. I was kind of mad because he scared me and ruined my peaceful meal. Sakura looked like she was going to punch Naruto again, I wouldn't mind if she did. Sai looked bored, but had a mild interest on what the hyperactive blond was up to.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Eri," I answered. I frowned at him and went back to my meal. I was hoping he wouldn't bother me, but the world seemed to like to be cruel to me.

"I've never seen you around. Are you new?" He pursued.

"I'm here to see the Hokage. I came from Suna." Sakura looked interested now; I really wanted to bury my head in a hole now.

"Suna! Do you know Gaara? He's my friend! Are you a ninja?" His eyes sparkled with interest.

"Yes to both questions," I replied, flatly. Well, I guess I was a ninja but not officially; I wasn't sure.

"Sakura-chan did you hear that? She knows Gaara." he turned to Sakura.

"Naruto I'm right here so I can hear perfectly fine. So, what do you like to do?" she asked, trying to be polite. It was an innocent question, but I knew this would lead to another and another. I wasn't in the mood today to be friendly.

"I like to draw. Now if you'll excuse me I must go." I got up and paid; I "borrowed" money from Kankuro, and left. I was being rude, but last night I couldn't sleep and me with no sleep equals cranky Eri.

_Now to find my tree and draw._

I found my nice shady tree outside of Konoha; my special spot. I pulled out two pencils and my drawing notebook. Since I didn't have my other notebook from home I bought a new one back in Suna. I used one pencil to put my hair up in a bun and then started to think.

I hadn't drawn since we got here. I usually draw for people who ask; most ask for Naruto characters. Just thinking about that reminded me of Kiku and Callia. I missed them so much.

_I hope they're alright. I really wish we could find them._

I made up my mind and started to do a sketch of Callia. I do self portraits of my friends sometimes when they want to be put in a picture with their favorite characters. I was so into my drawing that I didn't notice that the sun was starting to go down.

It was hard to see so I closed my book and got up. I was about to leave when something grabbed me. A hand clamped over my mouth and a kunai was pressed against my throat.

"Don't move or I won't hesitate to slit your throat." I could feel my heart thump louder as I recognized the voice, Itachi Uchiha. If it were a regular ninja then I wouldn't have been so scared, but an S class ninja was different; especially if that ninja had killed his whole clan without batting an eye.

"W-what d-do you w-want?" My voice was shaking the whole time. I cursed myself for feeling like this.

"You are Eri." It was more of a statement than a question but I nodded, well tried to at least. I felt the kunai slice down my neck. I closed my eyes but felt nothing except my scarf fall away from my neck. I could feel his eyes boring into the mark on the side of my neck. I heard him mumble something but couldn't make it out. Then a swift hit to my head had me seeing stars until I blacked out.

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

"You're a pig," I stated to Kankuro as he winked and flirted with the tenth girl who had stopped to "talk." Temari had to go back to Suna so I was stuck with Kankuro. Eri had gone off into the forest to be alone.

"Sorry if the girls are so interested in me. You know it sounds like you don't want me to flirt with them. Is there a reason why?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I could feel my stomach churn. I made a gagging sound at him.

"As if. There are millions of guys I rather be with and you are not one of them," I snapped. Sometimes Kankuro acted like a little kid and it got really annoying. He was older than me by a year, but he should act more mature.

_Please let me be struck by lightning than to endure this torture._

Suddenly I heard something rumble, well more like my stomach rumbling. I flushed slightly as Kankuro looked at me with amusement. I scowled at him and started to walk off, hoping to loose him with my long strides. He was right behind me; I'd forgotten he was only a few inches taller than I was so he could keep up.

"If you're hungry let's go eat. This restaurant looks good," he offered. He pointed to a small but nice looking restaurant. I had to agree and he had the money so why not.

We got a table and I tried to read the menu. Eri tried to teach me the basic foods, but everything here seemed fancy and when I saw the prices I knew this wasn't a cheap place. I peeked up at Kankuro; he was looking around, probably already knew what he wanted.

Now I could order some random thing, but I might end up with something disgusting, or I could ask Kankuro for help. I would usually ask Eri for help, but since she wasn't here I had to ask the cat across from me.

"Uh, Kankuro? What do you think would be good to try." I wasn't going to openly admit that I couldn't read anything on here, not to him at least.

"You can't read it can you," he bluntly said. He was smirking at me the whole time. My mouth hung open as I stared at him.

"Close your mouth, you might catch a fly. If you're wondering how I knew it was simple. I always saw you talking to Eri, whenever we went out to eat. I heard you once ask what the menu said." I blinked at him.

_He's been watching us? This is so weird and embarrassing...wait he's been watching us...why?_

"Uh...alright, I can't read this menu; I don't know the language, happy." I crossed my arms and looked anywhere but him. He started to chuckle at me and then laugh. I looked at him and frowned.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Your face. The expression was so...so cute." He kept laughing, but the only thing that processed through my head was he said my expression looked cute. I could feel myself blush slightly at the compliment even though he probably had no idea what he had said.

"Okay, I'm done laughing. Why don't you get the eight piece sushi dish," he said. I perked up hearing sushi. I loved sushi so much especially with wasabi. In the end we got a twenty-four piece dish of sushi that Kankuro and I shared together.

It was delicious and filling. Surprisingly, Kankuro and I had a civil conversation and not once did he act like a pig. When the bill came, I nearly had a heart attack. It came to almost $90 in American money; Kankuro didn't seem to care and paid for it.

"That was fun. I had a great time," I said. We were walking through the streets of Konoha. It was getting dark.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" He sounded offended, but he gave me a teasing smile.

"Well, you weren't acting like a pig and the meal was the best. You know they say the best way to a woman's heart is through her stomach," I said absentmindedly.

"I thought that was for men only," Kankuro mused.

"Fine, the best way to my heart is though my stomach. I like to eat," I answered. If someone gave me a nice meal then I would instantly call them my friend. I yawned and stretched. I was getting tired, but tomorrow we weren't doing anything.

"So does that mean I have your heart?" Kankuro was smirking at me, but his voice sounded somewhat serious.

"No, but you're no longer on my hate list. The only one who has my heart is..." I broke off realizing I was about to admit to Kankuro that I liked his brother.

"Never mind," I mumbled and looked away. It would be weird if he knew about my crush and slight obsession with his younger brother.

"Well, whoever he is, he must be one lucky guy," he commented. I snapped my head up at him. He was looking up at the sky, not looking at me.

"Hey look a shooting star," I whispered, hoping to change the awkwardness I felt. The last time I saw one was when I was ten years old and my mom said for me to make a wish. I did, but that wish still hasn't come true.

"You know they say you should make a wish if you see one and it might come true," I said.

"Really? Then I guess I'll try it out," he drawled. I closed my eyes and made a wish. It was the same wish I had made seven years ago. I don't know if there's a rule against making the same wish but I didn't really care.

I felt something soft and warm press against my lips. I gasped and my eyes flew open. Kankuro's face was inches from my own; his expression unreadable. Then he pulled away and disappeared, leaving me behind.

_What the hell happened! Did he just...but why? I'm so confused. Need to talk to Eri._

I ran back to the apartment the Hokage gave us and knocked on Eri's door. No one answered. I knocked again and still no answer. I opened the door and scanned the room. Her bed hadn't been slept in; she hadn't come back. Something didn't feel right, Eri was always back by the time the sun went down and if she wasn't she would come and tell me beforehand.

I ran out of the apartment and toward the woods. I knew her favorite spot was under the large tree. I got there and ran around the tree but didn't find her. My foot stepped on something and I bent down to pick it up. In the light of the moon I saw it was a pencil. Not just any pencil but Eri's pencil. She had engraved her initials in it and I knew she would never leave anything like this behind. Something else caught my eye. A scarf that was cut in half. The same scarf that Eri always wore around her neck. The material looked to be cut by a sharp knife.

_She's been kidnapped...no don't think the worst. Maybe she's trying to play a joke on me...no Eri would never do that. I need to find..._

I could feel tears streaming down my face. I lost another friend. I was alone now and I couldn't do anything. I ran blindly to Kankuro's apartment; it was the only place I could think of going to.

I banged on his door and kept sobbing. I felt so powerless and weak; I was stupid for letting her go alone all the time.

"Azula, what do you-" Kankuro stopped when he saw my face. I just ran and buried my face in his chest.

"Eri...she..she...gone..kidnapped...my f-fault!" I kept crying and Kankuro rubbed my back trying to calm me down.

_Eri. Where are you? I'm sorry..._

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

I smelled smoke and heard the crackling of a fire. My head felt heavy and my eyes refused to open. I forced myself to open my eyes. I tried to sit up, but my hands were tied behind my back very tightly. I tried to wiggle myself upright but failed at the first attempt. Finally I managed to sit up and looked around for any signs of life.

"Don't even think of trying to run away." I whipped my head toward the gruff voice and stared at him. He was larger than I thought and his skin really was blue. Kisame sat under a tree near the fire staring at me intently; daring me to runaway. I looked around for his partner but didn't see him around.

"I wasn't thinking of trying to escape. I'm not an idiot; I know you guys can catch me and kill me in seconds," I stated. I was probably digging my own grave, but right now I didn't care. If I was going to die then why not have some fun while I wait.

"So where's Itachi? Did the weasel have to go use the bathroom?" Kisame stiffened when I mentioned Itachi. I wasn't suppose to know who they were, but who wouldn't know what a wanted criminal looked like and what their names were. Giving too much info away wouldn't be too good; I'd have to keep my mouth shut about somethings.

"Don't look so paranoid, I saw his picture in the bingo book. I also saw yours too, Kisame," I assured. He didn't visibly relax, but I had a feeling he bought my lie. Itachi appeared from the woods and looked at me and Kisame. He showed no emotion at all. I like guys who are cool and calm, but not ones who are too afraid to show any speck of emotion.

"Hello, Weasel-san! Nice of you to come back and thanks for kidnapping me. That was the cherry to my sundae," I said sarcastically. He narrowed his eyes at me and I just put on a fake smile. I tried to shift my arms; they were starting to lose circulation. Kisame chuckled at my comment and looked back at Itachi.

"Did you finish what you had to?" he inquired.

"Hn." I frowned slightly. He could of gave more of a replay. Itachi sat down and just stared into the fire.

_He acts and sounds like Sasuke...wait since he's older that means Sasuke sounds and acts like Itachi...no...argh I'm too confused. Wonder if they'll let my arms go so I can draw...can't let this moment go to waste...I can get pictures of them._

"Ah, could you let my arms free? I promise I won't run away. I just want to draw and I need my hands to do it," I implored.

"No," Itachi answered. my frown went deeper. I wasn't stupid to try and run away from them, that would be Kiku's job. I turned to Kisame and he just shrugged.

"Come on please! You can tie my feet up instead of my arms. I just want to draw you guys," I nagged. I tried to do my best puppy dog eyes, but Itachi didn't seem fazed.

"Why would you want to draw us?" Kisame seemed slightly interested.

_Hmm, this might work in my favor if I can get him to side with me._

"Well, because I can actually draw you guys without having to look at pictures. I'll have the real thing in front of me. Take a look at my sketchbook if you don't believe that I draw you guys. Although, I have to warn you, some of those pictures are a little disturbing for people like you," I warned.

I smiled as Kisame picked up my sketchbook near my feet. I had drawn pictures of Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and some of the other people we hadn't met. There was one Itachi and Kisame pair that I drew out of boredom.

Kisame started to flip through the pictures and paused at one of them. I peeked over his shoulder and saw it was a picture of him. I had drawn that a while ago; Kisame was standing in a field of dead bodies dripping with blood. He had a feral smile and seemed to have a half crazed look on his face.

"Do I really look like this?" he faltered.

"Only when you're fighting. You look-" I stopped before I could say too much. If he knew that I knew he liked blood baths and other stuff then both Itachi and Kisame would be very suspicious of me.

"Uh, I mean, that's what I imagine you would look like if you were fighting. You know cause sharks like blood and stuff," I finished, lamely. Kisame went back to looking through my book and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"What the hell is this!" Kisame dropped my sketchbook onto the ground.

_He must've gotten to __**that**_ _picture. I wonder what Itachi would think if he saw it too._

"What's what?" I tried to hold in my laughter, but Kisame's face looked so disgusted and kind of pale. Finally I broke out into hysterical laughter. I fell over and rolled onto my side laughing the whole way. When I had gotten myself under control I saw Kisame still look sickened from the picture.

"It's called fan art. I make art for people who want it. You're very popular where I'm from and people love to see you two together," I confessed.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, probably the most reaction I would get from him, and picked up my fallen sketchbook. He looked at the picture; I tried to see if he would react in some way. Of course Mr. Stone Face held his poker face in line. He put my sketchbook back down and looked back to the fire.

"So, can I draw now?" I looked hopefully up at Kisame, but his facial expression was the same.

"I don't think so. I never want to see that again. Now I have to clear my mind of that thing," Kisame grumbled, and got up to sit under the tree again. I sighed and looked at my sketchbook; I really needed something to do but my hands were preoccupied.

Kisame fell asleep while Itachi watched the fire. He was on guard duty to make sure the little prisoner wouldn't be gone in the morning. I couldn't fall asleep though; the forest made me antsy.

I jumped when I heard a loud screech. Then, there was another one, this time louder; I shrieked and managed to get near Itachi. I hate the forest at night; the mornings are fine, but night time is when all the weird stuff comes out. I peeked from behind Itachi and saw that Kisame was still fast asleep, either that or he was pretending to be asleep.

I scooted next to Itachi instead of remaining behind him. He raised an eyebrow again. I frowned and looked at the fire.

"I'm afraid of the forest at night. I just don't like how it gets all dark and there are strange noises. I got lost in the forest once when I was eight and I almost got attacked by a bear. I was scared, but was too young to do anything. My father came in time to shoot the bear; even now that I'm seventeen I'm still scared of the forest," I blurted out.

I had no idea what made me tell him this, but I felt better now. Itachi didn't ask any questions or comment which made me feel better. I yawned feeling suddenly tired.

"You know, even though you don't talk, it sometimes is a good thing. You don't annoy the hell out of me like Naruto was a few hours ago. You're probably a good listener too. Well, nighty night Weasel-san." I yawned again and my eyes started to close.

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/19/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

I groaned as the noise of the birds woke me up. I felt surprisingly warm and comfortable. I was leaning against a soft pillow or something soft. I tried to snuggle closer and felt my pillow move. My eyes snapped open and I scrambled away from the moving pillow. Itachi stared at me as I stared back.

_I was laying on Itachi! Ack I fell asleep on a murderer...he's going to kill me!_

"Uh, hahaha...good morning Itachi-san." I smiled nervously and waited for him to kill me, but nothing came. Instead he got up and went deeper into the forest, leaving me with Kisame. I wasn't dead which was a good sign.

I stretched my arms and flexed my fingers. I stopped and looked at my wrist. My arms were no longer tied together. The rope had left some red marks, but my hands were free. I smiled inwardly, now I could draw.

"Itachi said you won't runaway. Don't make him regret trusting you." Kisame stared at me and I nodded. I was hungry, I had missed dinner and probably breakfast by now. My clothes felt dirty and my hair had some dirt in it as well.

_I need a bath and new clothes or at least wash my clothes. Wonder if they'd buy me clothes or let me bathe...unless they like the smell of dirt, sweat and grime._

Kisame threw something in my face. It looked to be a bag of dried fruit. He threw a water canister at me, but this time I caught it; that would've hurt like hell if it hit my face. My stomach grumbled so I ate what was given to me. Back at Suna I was use to a more elaborate breakfast, but beggars can't be choosers.

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked between chews.

"Somewhere," Kisame answered. That was not the kind of explanation I was looking for. I had hoped he would actually tell me, but then again I was a prisoner. Itachi came back from wherever he likes to run off to.

I ended up walking in between Itachi and Kisame as we walked through the woods. Itachi led and Kisame kept an eye on me from the back. The sun was starting to go down when we reached a village. It looked small and not many people were out. The people here either ignored us or looked away in fear. We stopped at a small inn and Kisame had a room prepared.

"Hello Itachi-kun." A girl with blond hair and blue eyes smiled sweetly at him; I almost puked. She twirled a piece of hair around her finger trying to look cute and stuff.

"Are you staying here long?" she giggled while fluttering her eyelashes.

"Just for the day," Kisame answered instead. It wasn't like Itachi was going to reply anyways. The girl crossed her arms and pouted.

_If she's trying to be cute then she fails...she looks like a baby doing that. She can't be any older than I am and looks like she has bubbles for brains. I mean who in their right mind would try and flirt with Itachi! You'd have better luck with a rock, sweetheart._

I rolled my eyes at her and tapped my foot impatiently. This was an inn which meant a bath was provided. I really wanted one, now. The girl looked at me, trying to size me up. She gave me a you're-no-competition smile.

"Who are you, little girl?" she snarked. I felt my eye twitch slightly at her comment. I was so not a little girl and she knew it.

"I'm not a little kid, little girl," I spat. She glared at me and stuck her nose in the air.

"I'm sorry but you just look soooo young. I mean I'm fifteen so I assumed you were at least twelve," she quipped. Kisame gave a cough, which was probably covering up a laugh. Itachi raised an eyebrow at the girl. She really was stupid if she thought I was twelve years old.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Sweetie, but I'm seventeen. I think I should be the one calling you little," I said with a smirk. Her face turned red red from anger and embarrassment.

_Maybe now she'll keep her mouth shut._

"So, can I take a bath or what? I smell and I really want to get clean clothes." Kisame shrugged and led the way past the stairs and down the hall to the rooms. We ended up in the last room down the hall, it was also the largest.

The room was spacious and nicely furnished. There was a couch near the window and a king sized bed that took up the left side of the room. A door led to the bathroom and a table with four chairs was set in the center. All in all this was a nice room, it even had a balcony.

"Wow. The inn looks so small from the outside, but it has so much room on the inside. This is really nice," I admired. I was about to walk into the bathroom when I realized I didn't have a change of clothes.

"Uh, what should I do about clothes?" I wrinkled my nose at my dirt stained ones.

"Eh, I'll get you something later." Kisame waved a dismissive hand at me, already sprawled on the couch. I just shrugged and closed the door to the bath and locked it. The bathroom was plain; it had a sink and a large mirror. There was bathtub that was clean and there was assortment of shampoos and soaps. I started to strip and noticed a seal of some sort on my hand.

_What the hell...that wasn't there before...was it?_

I peeked out of the bathroom door and looked around. Kisame had his eyes closed and Itachi was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, what's this mark on my hand for?" I asked.

Kisame opened one eye. "That is a seal to prevent you from using any chakra. Last about twenty-four hours."

I wasn't really worried; it wasn't like someone would attack me while I'm with the Akatsuki so no worries. I closed the door and hopped into the bathtub. I let out a satisfied sigh as the hot water soothed my body and I could feel myself getting cleaner already.

I scrubbed relentlessly at my body; it was covered in dirt. By the time I finished the water was a brown color and my skin was squeaky clean. I wrapped a towel around myself and wiped the fogged up mirror.

There was a knock on the door, startled I jumped. I slowly opened it and peeked out. No one was there, but there was a brown package on the floor. Assuming that it held my new clothes I took it back in with me. When I unwrapped it I noticed a lot of black.

There was a black turtleneck shirt with long sleeves. Under it was a pair of black pants that reminded me of my skinny jeans I never wore. The only color was a thick blue cloth that was at the bottom.

_Great..I'm going to look so emo with this on...wonder who picked this out for me...Itachi maybe...well he is kind of emo...Sasuke's more emo though._

I put on my new clothes and looked at myself. I grabbed the blue cloth and wrapped it around my neck, making it into a hood. The ends hung a little down my back. I opened the door and looked out, Kisame was gone. There were a pair of closed black sandals at the side of the bed. They looked kind of like black boots. I slipped them on and gave myself a twirl.

_I could probably blend into the night if I wanted to...be a ninja shadow...that would be so cool._

I grabbed my notebook and my pencil. I sat at the edge of the balcony and started to finish my picture of Callia. It was cool out and the sun was already fading, but the room casted enough light out here that I could see. I worked for a about thirty minutes, but no one came back.

_I could see if the door is open...probably locked it. Since I have no chakra jumping down the balcony is a big no no._

I tried the door, but it was locked like I thought. I grabbed the apple left on the table and ate it. Kicking off my shoes and putting my notebook on the table I jumped onto the bed. It was nice and comfy and bouncy.

_The Akatsuki must be treated like royalty here. I call dibs on the bed! I've always wondered what it would be like to be in the Akatsuki, well now's my chance...just don't die first. Time for some well deserved sleep._

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

"Cal-chan!" I jumped at the loud high voice. I swore under my breath as my breakfast fell on the floor. Tobi/Madara hugged me, almost like a choke hold. I tried to breath, but it became really hard.

"T-Tobi? I-I need to b-breath!" I sputtered.

"Awww! Cal-chan is so cute when she's choking!" he exclaimed. I tried to break away but he held on fast. I started seeing black dots in my field of vision.

His mask brushed against my cheek. "It's not nice to eavesdrop on people's conversations. Don't do it next time." Tobi/Madara's voice got low and dangerous. He let me go and I gasped for air. Deidara came in and gave us a weird look and went to get breakfast.

"Bye bye Cal-chan!" Tobi/Madara waved to me and then skipped off. I shivered as I regained the ability to breath again.

_Definitely Madara...he knew I was listening and yet didn't kill me...why?_

Sighing I grabbed another piece of toast and started to eat. The Akatsuki didn't have much food around so it was either toast or raw meat for breakfast; I believe the meat belonged to Zetsu. Speaking of Zetsu, I hadn't seen him around at all, but then again he isn't seen very often in the manga or anime. I was daydreaming for a while when Deidara pulled my seat out. I toppled over onto the floor.

"What the hell!" I glared at him. My crush for Deidara was getting smaller as I spent more time with him. Sure he was cool in the Naruto. but in real life he was a pain in the butt.

"Come on I want to test your abilities, yeah," he stated. He grabbed my arm and dragged me down to the training room. The training ground was just an empty space surrounded by trees.

"I don't have any weapons. You took them all remember." He just tossed me a holster full of Kunais and shurikens; He, also, gave me back my daggers. I put the holster on and picked up my weapons. I ran my thumb on the blade, still sharp as ever.

"So, what do I do?" I looked around.

"Just fight me until you pass out, un," he answered. I didn't like this idea. I could be killed by one of his bombs.

I coughed. "Uh, are you sure this is safe? You could kill me with one of your bombs and then what?" I was trying to find a way out of this deal. I didn't want to die after Pein allowed me to live.

"I won't kill you; maybe severely injure but not kill, yeah," he replied, not looking like he cared. I didn't like that idea too much either. My shoulder was still hurting a little.

_Wait he thinks he's going to automatically win...cocky jerk!_

"You think I'm going to lose? If I go down so will you," I warned. I took an attack stance, leaving my daggers in their sheath for now.

Deidara smirked as if he knew he was going to win. I ran toward him, pushing chakra in my feet to make me go faster. I tried to punch him put missed him, barely. Deidara made a large bird and flew off into the sky.

"Hey no fair! Stupid long range fighter!" I screeched. He just laughed and started to circle around the training ground. I ran into the forest, trying to come up with a plan.

_Long range fighters stay away far enough so they can't be hit, but close enough to hit the enemy. I need to get him down here somehow. If I put enough chakra in my feet, I might be able to reach him._

I looked around and notice a tree branch that was higher than the others. I quickly climbed up, all the while gathering chakra to my feet. I pushed off once I reached the end.

I did a few quick hand signs before gravity could have the opportunity to pull me down.

"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu."

Deidara turned his head as a dragon's head made of fire came toward him. It erupted into a large fire ball. I felt myself falling and caught onto a tree. The fireball was bright and I saw burnt clay falling from the sky. I looked around for him trying to sense his chakra but couldn't find any.

Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed me, trapping my arms. I tried to squirm, but the hold got tighter. I turned my head and looked at Deidara. His robe was slightly singed on the bottom, the sleeves and the collar. His hair was also burnt a little and he looked pissed.

"What the hell, un! You almost killed me!" he hissed.

"You didn't say I couldn't try! Now let go!" I kicked him in his sensitive area; he let out a grunt and let me go. I jumped away as he growled at me still holding the area I had kicked him.

"Try that again and I'll seriously hurt your family jewels," I warned. I smirked as he winced in pain. Suddenly a small clay bird flew toward me and exploded. I was sent flying backwards into a tree.

_Now this seems oddly familiar...oh yeah it happened when I first met him...I got knocked into a tree..._

I groaned and got back up. Grabbing my daggers I pushed some chakra into the handles. The blades were encased in flames. The metal was fire resistant so they wouldn't melt under such heat; Kabuto said they were made for fire type ninjas.

I concentrated my chakra into molding the flames to the longest tip of the blade. It thinned out; the flames looked like a whip. Doing this always took a lot of chakra, and even now I still hadn't mastered it.

I ran toward him and slashed out. The whip like flames lashed out, allowing me to hit him without getting too close. It created slash marks into his cloak. Deidara threw some clay spiders at me; I moved out just in time as they blew up. I felt myself sweating from using so much energy just keeping the blades encased in fire.

I was hit on the back and my daggers fell out of my hands. The flames diminished, no longer fueled by my chakra. Deidara gave me a smirk and threw another bird bomb at me. I rolled onto the floor avoiding most of the explosion.

I did some more hand signs feeling myself losing more chakra. I wanted to win this fight; to prove to him and everyone else that I was a capable person.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." I made a one shadow clone of myself and formulated a plan. It was a bad plan that had a great chance of not working, but I just hoped luck was on my side. I grabbed the arm of my clone and threw her at Deidara. She somersaulted over his head and threw kunai at him. He was momentarily distracted, which was what I had hoped would happen.

I concentrated my chakra to my right fist. My fist was now laced with fire. I charged at him, aiming for the stomach. Just as my fist connected, Deidara threw two centipede shaped clay bombs at me.

I flew across the ground and rolled until I was stopped by the trunk of a tree. My body ached and I had run out of chakra with that last one. I looked over to where Deidara had landed and he

looked as worn out as me. I smiled weakly at him.

"Told you I would bring you down with me," I boasted, weakly.

"Whatever, yeah," he murmured. It was a silent truce for now. We were both tired; Deidara probably still had more chakra left than I did but he was physically hurt. I could see burn marks all over his arms and one near his stomach.

He looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. I blinked. "..."

"Not bad Red, un," he finally said. I tried to scowl, but was still too weak to do much except groan in pain.

"Don't call me Red," I protested. I turned over onto my back and just stared at the sky. Sure I hated Orochimaru, but without him training me, I wouldn't have survived this fight.

_Creepy snake is good for something at least..._

* * *

><p><strong>Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu: <strong>_Fire Release:_ _Great Dragon Fire Technique_

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: **_Shadow Clone Technique_

**Kitkat d(^.^)b**


	10. Chapter 10

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/20/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

"I hate walking," I grumbled while trying not to trip again. Juugo and I had been traveling for a while, not really knowing which way to go. Ever since we started, I've bumped into ten trees, almost fell into three pits, and tripped over my own feet twenty times. Juugo made me hold onto his cloak; making me feel like a little kid. Being blind really stinks when you're trying to travel through a forest.

"Where are we anyways?" I asked, not that I could see anything.

"I don't know," he replied. Juugo didn't have a great sense of direction. Every time he tried to talk to someone, that we would meet, they would run away from him in fear. He wouldn't let me ask anyone because of the fact I couldn't see and probably wouldn't be able to defend myself if they tried to kidnap me; stupid protectiveness.

"I wish we had a GPS right now," I mumbled to myself.

"What is a GPS?" Juugo sounded perplexed.

"Uh, never mind." Not like a GPS would be any good in the middle of a forest that probably had no satellite reception. Juugo suddenly stiffened under my grasp.

"What's wrong?" I turned my head from side to side. He didn't reply, so I tugged on his cloak to get his attention.

"Look what we found. A pretty girl and a giant." The voice was rough, but kind of whiny. It was coming directly in front of us. I heard two more people come down with a loud thud.

"What ya going to do, Boss?" This voice was high pitch like a girls.

"Ya Boss, what ya going to do with the girly?" The third voice was scratchy and slightly lower than the second one.

_This is like some really bad gangster movie, except they're gangster ninjas. We have the Boss, Lackey 1 and Lackey 2. Maybe Lackey 1 and Lackey 2 will repeat everything the Boss says...that would be hilarious!_

I covered my mouth as I let out a snort like giggle. I could feel Juugo giving me a questioning look, and I just shrugged my shoulders. They probably weren't real threats; Juugo could probably kick their butts.

"Well, boys, we take down the giant and take the girl. Have a little fun with her and then have her clean and cook for us," the first voice said triumphantly.

"That's brilliant, Boss!" Both Lackey 1 and 2 said together. I rolled my eyes at them. First, Juugo wouldn't let them take me. Second, I can't cook. I'd give you food poisoning if I tried; I actually gave my dad food poisoning on his birthday and he was in bed for two weeks.

"Kiku stay behind me," Juugo said in his low voice. I nodded and got fully behind him. I felt useless, but without my eyes I couldn't fight. I heard the gangster ninjas running toward Juugo; they aren't very light on their feet for ninjas. I heard lots of noise and sounds of fighting, but couldn't follow what was going on.

"Boss, this guy is a monster!" Lackey 2 shrieked. I suddenly felt a darker chakra coming from someone a few feet ahead of me.

_Aww, crap! Juugo's going Mr. Hyde on me. How am I suppose to calm him down when I can't see him?_

"Even monsters can be defeated!" The Boss's voice was shaking slightly. I heard a roar and flinched as Juugo let out blood curdling laugh. I heard the other ninjas start screaming, and their boss was yelling at them to shut up.

"I just hope this works, Boss!" Lackey 1 almost sounded close to tears. Then, an ear splitting howl filled the air. It sounded like Juugo was in pain. I tried to get up, but ended up tripping on my feet and face planting into the ground.

_Fourth time I've fallen flat on my face! Stupid, stupid stupid!_

I started crawling on the ground slowly feeling my way around. My hand landed on a large arm; it had to be Juugo.

"Woohoo! Boss you're amazing!" Lackey 1 and 2 were cheering like a bunch of fangirls. I touched Juugo's hand and gasped. It felt ice cold; he was breathing, but it was very shallow.

"Never doubt me boys," the Boss boasted; I could almost see him puff out his chest like a peacock.

"Juugo? Juugo? Wake up. Come on get up!" I tried to shake him, but he didn't move. The men started to laugh as I heard them approach me from behind.

"Don't bother girly. That poison will kill him in five minutes. I stole it from some ninja who makes deadly poisons. Too bad I didn't bother to get the antidote," the Boss jeered. All of them laughed again. I could feel my eyes prick with tears. In less than five minutes Juugo would be dead and I would be their slave.

"Aww, don't cry. Let me give you a hug, huh girly." The Boss's tone was mocking. He grabbed me by the waist and I screamed. His hand clamped over my mouth so I bit him, drawing some blood. He dropped me, and I spat the foul taste out of my mouth.

"You little wench! I'll teach you to bite me!" Suddenly he slapped me. The hit was hard and I could taste blood in my mouth. My cheek stung, but I just glared in their general direction.

"Hehe, keeping you alive would be too much work," he said. His hand grabbed my neck and started to squeeze. I tried to kick him, but he held me far enough so I couldn't touch him. I started to gasp for air; my head was spinning. I felt tears stream down my cheek as my mind started to fade.

_Juugo...I'm sorry._

"What the fuck!" The hand let go and I fell onto the ground. I gulped in the fresh air and tried to sit up. I looked around trying to sense what was going on.

"Don't you think that's a little cruel picking on a blind girl?" I froze. That voice and the lazy drawl sounded a lot like a voice I would imagine on a certain character.

"You guys are bastards!" I winced at the loud voice, but couldn't help but smile.

"How strange. The girl is smiling even though she was near death. Why is that?" The soft voice was full of curiosity and kind of monotone.

"She's feeling relief, Sai. Hey, are you okay?" I turned my head in the direction of the girl's

voice. She put a hand to my neck and the bruising feeling on my neck faded.

"Who the hell are you!" The Boss sounded a little scared.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage of Konoha! I'm gonna kick your asses!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto! You baka, they don't really care if you're going to Hokage," Sakura hissed. My smile got wider and I laughed lightly. Then, I remembered Juugo dying from poison. I clutched Sakura's hand and looked up in the direction I assumed her face was.

"Please help my friend. He's been poisoned and they said it will kill him in five minutes. I don't know how much time went by."

"Don't worry I'm a medic ninja so I might be able to help," she whispered reassuringly to me. I felt Sakura leave my side and heard her going over to Juugo. Naruto, Kakashi and Sai were fighting the gangster ninjas and it sounded like they were winning.

_Wooo! Go Team 7! Kick their asses! How's it feel to be beaten you bastards!_

The fighting sounds stopped. I listened to hear what was going on. I think Lackey 1 and 2 were begging not to be killed while their boss was groaning.

"Haha, you lost bastards! Got your butts handed down by two kids and a closet perv!" I stuck my tongue out and gave them the finger, well at least I hope it was the bad ninjas I was flipping off.

"Hey, how'd you know Kaka-sensei was a closet perv?" I fell backwards when I realized Naruto was right in my face.

"Woah, personal space buddy," I warned. Inside my mind I was panicking as I realized my mistake. I turned toward Juugo's direction hoping to distract them.

Sakura had been silent. I inquired, "Uh, hey how is he doing?" I was met with silence. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat when Sakura didn't immediately respond.

"I don't know this poison. I'm sorry, but I can't help. If we had more time we could bring him back to Konoha. I'm sorry but he won't..." She trailed off and I felt more tears forming.

"No! You have to know something! Please! Juugo is like a brother to me, I need him!" I wailed. It was ironic though; in the beginning it was Juugo who needed me, but now I needed him ever since I lost Callia and my sight. I depended on him as my comfort and guide.

I crawled over to Juugo's body and picked up his hand. It was even colder than before. I felt my tears falling down my face.

"Juugo, please don't die. I don't know what to do without you; I lost Callia already," I begged. I held his hand and listened as his breathing got shallower.

"K-Kiku don't cry," he rasped. I squeezed his hand harder. Juugo's voice sounded weak and he was gasping slightly.

"Y-you can't leave me! I needed you. I can't go-" I choked on my words. It was too much to handle.

"No, no. Promise me you'll go on. Th-thanks for always...there...me. I..." Juugo stopped talking and I shook his hand.

"I p-promise...don't leave yet!" I was desperate. I knew he was dead, but some part of me hoped he wasn't; I wanted this to be a bad dream. I broke down in sobs as I held his lifeless hand; I felt someone tap my shoulder, but didn't care who it was.

_He wasn't suppose to die! It didn't happen in the manga or anime! Why now...he was my anchor after Callia got kidnapped..._

"I-I want to kill them! I want those bumbling buffoons dead!" I screeched. I clenched my hands into fists. I staggered up and grabbed a kunai from my holster. I started to walk in the direction I heard the whimpering coming from.

"You and your lackeys are dead meat. Taking a life just for fun isn't so fun anymore, huh," I growled, and the whimpering got louder. Someone put a firm hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I tried to shrug them off, but whoever it was wouldn't let go.

"Don't do it. You don't want to kill for revenge. I bet you haven't even killed one person yet, have you?" Kakashi asked.

I growled at him. "No I haven't. Now let go of me Hatake or so help me!" I didn't care if I said his last name even though I wasn't suppose to know him. The hand on my shoulder tightened, and I tried again to pull away.

"Would your friend want you to kill them?" he insisted. Juugo never wanted to kill anyone even when he did; he was a gentle person. Juugo would've told me to leave them alone even if they had done wrong. I lowered my kunai and my shoulders sagged.

"Fine, you win." I turned away from the ninjas, not wanting to hear them. Kakashi guided me over to where Naruto and the rest were. I could feel them staring at me, but ignored them. I sighed and rubbed my temples; all this crying hurt my head.

"Can you guys take me to Konoha?" I questioned.

"Why?" Kakashi's voice was flat and full of suspicion. I would be on guard too if someone I've never met knew my name.

"I heard that the Hokage is a great medical ninja. I thought maybe she could fix my sight." I waited for someone to say something. Finally, Kakashi let out a sigh.

"Well, alright. Naruto, will you carry her?" I started to protest, but Naruto had already grabbed me and swung me onto his back. I had no choice, and traveling like this would be much faster.

"Wait. Could you take Juugo's body, please. He deserves a proper burial," I croaked out. I assumed Kakashi said yes because I heard him grunt and ask Sai to help him. Juugo wasn't a light person so it would take at least two ninjas to carry him.

Naruto took off and I could feel the wind blowing past us. It was silent as we traveled. I felt really bad because I couldn't help Juugo. If I had been able to fight, then Juugo would still be alive.

"So, what's your name?" Sakura was trying to be polite and start a conversation. I smiled slightly at her attempt to make nice.

"Kiku. What about you guys?" I asked. I knew them already, heck I knew everyone in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series, but it was only the polite thing to do.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," she introduced.

"Naruto Uzumaki and I'm-"

"Naruto! She's already heard your speech. If I hear you say it one more time I'm going to scream and someone will end up hurt!" Sakura bemoaned.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," he apologized. I could just see him rubbing the back of his head. I laughed lightly and smiled. They really were an interesting team.

"I'm Sai." Came a whisper of a voice. I wondered if he was giving me one of his fake smiles or not. I wanted to ask, but that would be too weird.

"Kakashi Hatake," the copy ninja stated. I nodded at all of them. Suddenly I felt tired and yawned. I lowered my head onto Naruto's back and started to fall asleep.

-:-

"Hey, Kiku wake up!" I flinched and automatically punched whoever was yelling in my ear. I heard a cry of pain and someone else yelling. I opened my eyes and saw...nothing, no surprise there. I stretched and heard my bones crack and pop.

"Where are we?" I tried to catch my bearings.

"We're at the gates of Konoha. Naruto started to complain that you were drooling on him." Kakashi informed, sounding amused; I guess it had to do with the fact that I punched Naruto in the face.

"Ack, Kiku why'd you punch me?" Naruto whimpered.

"Well, I don't appreciate someone yelling in my ear when I'm asleep." I glared at Naruto's direction. Someone put their hand on my shoulder and I turned toward them.

"Come on. You can walk, right?" I nodded at Sakura. Naruto was still complaining, but stood on my other side. I followed Sakura closely; listening to the sound of her footsteps. I kind of listened to Naruto as he talked about getting ramen after this. Kakashi was silent so I assumed he was reading one of his perv books.

"Eh, Kiku look out!" Naruto cried. I felt something knock me down. It was standing on me and I could feel hot air on my face. I reached up and felt fur. Relaxing when I realized it was a dog, a very big one. I scratched it's ear while wondering if this was Akamaru, Kiba's dog.

"Hey there big boy. Are you Akamaru?" I cooed. My voice was muffled by the dog being on my chest so hopefully no one heard me. He gave a happy bark which I took as yes. Akamaru started to lick my face and I laughed as I got dog drool all over my face.

I kept giggling even though I got some drool in my mouth. "Ah, stop. Bad dog. You're getting slobber all over my face." I was laughing the whole time so he knew I wasn't really mad. I gently pushed for him to get off me and he complied.

"Aww, good boy. I wish I could see what you look like, you must be cute," I complimented while patting his head.

"Nah, Akamaru is just an ugly dog." Naruto didn't sound impressed. Akamaru growled at him; I rubbed the back of his ear and he stopped. I felt his tail wagging behind me and giggled; he felt so soft.

"Yo, Akamaru why'd you run off?" shouted a gruff voice. I recognized the voice as the owner, Kiba Inuzuka. Naruto said something and I heard the word baka and then mutt.

"Why'd you call me baka!" Kiba shouted.

"You heard me mutt. Unless you're hearing is already going down, Kiba!" Naruto taunted. I groaned slightly. I had thought they were on better terms since Naruto had come back. They still fought a little bit, but not as much as last time. Akamaru gave a loud bark and Kiba stopped arguing with Naruto.

"Hey sorry if he jumped ya." I blinked and realized he was talking to me.

I chuckled. "No problem. He's cute and very soft." The giant dog next to me gave a bark; it almost sounded like he was agreeing with me.

"So you like the compliment, huh. Don't go getting a big ego now." I patted his head and smiled. I turned toward Sakura; she hadn't left my side yet.

"So, can I see the Hokage about my eyes?" I hinted.

"Yeah, I'll take you to her office." Sakura took my arm and started pulling me away. I turned back and waved.

"Later Kakashi, Sai, and Naruto. It was nice to meet you, Kiba and Akamaru." I gave them a big smile before turning around and letting Sakura tow me away.

_I just hope Tsunade can help me._

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

I groaned as the light from my apartment window hit my face. I rolled over on the couch and stretched. Ever since Eri went missing I've been crying my eyes out and falling asleep on the couch. I haven't left my apartment, only to go see Tsunade and to eat. I've been avoiding

Kankuro and everyone else.

I opened my eyes and looked into blue green ones. I blinked trying to see if I was seeing things. Finally when my mind started to work, I shrieked. I turned and fell off the couch, bringing the blankets with me.

"G-Gaara? W-what are you doing h-here?" I stammered. I felt my face flush slightly as he stared at me. He didn't say anything at first. I noticed he had bags under his eyes, darker than before and he looked worried.

_How long has he been here? Was he watching me? Did I say anything embarrassing in my sleep?_

I've been known to talk in my sleep. Sometimes I say random stuff and other times I say things that I feel. The girls make fun of me; I, once, admitted to liking some guy and they wouldn't leave me alone.

"I heard about Eri. I couldn't come sooner because I had to take care of somethings. Are you alright?" I blinked at him. Eri had been missing for three days now. Gaara had come to Konoha, leaving his busy schedule for me. I felt my cheeks flame again and smiled slightly.

"You didn't have to come. They still haven't found Eri though. You look tired, are _you_ okay?" I asked, concerned. He nodded slightly as I got up.

"Uh, do you want something to eat?" I asked, trying to find something to do. He shook his head, and I went into the kitchen.

I grabbed a bowl and some cereal. The box said Ninja-Os; Eri and I nearly had a laughing fit when we saw these. I started to eat and peaked at Gaara once in awhile. I didn't know if he liked me or not; I certainly liked him alot.

I had come to the conclusion that I liked Kankuro more as a friend than anything else, now all I needed to do was tell him how I felt. So far I haven't had the chance or the courage to approach him yet.

"So, what are you doing in my apartment?" I was curious how he got in.

"Kankuro told me you've been staying in here most of the time. I found an extra key under a pot of flowers in front of your door," he informed. He gave a slight frown when he mentioned the key. Okay, maybe not the best place to put an extra key, but no one else had found it.

"I miss her. I'm so worried that something bad happened to her. Maybe if I had gone with her, we could've had a chance. If not then at least I would be with her," I whispered into my cereal. I could feel tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. I stared at my cereal not feeling hungry.

Gaara cleared his throat a little. "I was worried that they would come back for you."

My head snapped up and stared at the red head. He looked me straight in the eye and I blushed again. I looked away from his intense gaze and focused on the table.

"Gaara I-" There was a sharp knock on my door and I groaned. I went over and opened it. An Anbu wearing a hawk mask stood in the doorway.

"Uh, yes?" I felt my heart racing, maybe they found Eri.

"The Hokage would like to see you," he said.

"About what?" I wanted to know if it could be about Eri before I ran to the office.

"I was told just to bring you to her," he stated, sounding slightly irritated. I nodded and rushed back into my room. I took the world's fastest shower and got dressed under three minutes. I ran back where the Anbu was waiting; Gaara was standing there as well.

"Lets go." The Anbu disappeared and I followed. Gaara was following me as well. I gave him a questioning look, but he didn't say anything. When we got to the Hokage's office the Anbu knocked.

"Come in." Tsunade's voice sounded business like. The Anbu had vanished and I looked at Gaara. He nodded to me and gave what I thought was a reassuring smile, but then again it could be a trick from the lights. I breathed in and opened the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/23/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

"OW!"

"Hold still, yeah!"

"Stop, it hurts!"

"Stop acting like a baby, un."

"Hurry up!"

"Shut up!" Deidara screamed. I whimpered as Deidara finished the last of my stitches. I looked like I had been through a war zone. My arms were covered in burns and cuts, and my hair was all messed up, some of it was burnt.

Deidara was sewing my left arm that had gotten a very sever cut and wouldn't stop bleeding. In this lovely world they apparently don't have any numbing drugs or at least the base didn't have any.

"There done, yeah," he said triumphantly. My arm was itchy so I started to scratch it, but Deidara slapped my hand away.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" I pouted.

He scowled at me. "Don't scratch unless you want your stitches to come out, un. I'll have to redo them if they come out, un."

I really didn't need to endure another painful experience so I sat on my hand. Deidara had wanted to battle again, and this time he wasn't so easy. I lost within the next two minutes; I, also, lost a lot of blood. If I wasn't so injured I would've punched him in his smug face.

"You went easy on me last time," I huffed. He smirked at my distress.

"Of course I did, yeah. You actually think you can beat me." I punched him in the arm and winced at the pain that traveled up my arm like wild fire. I would probably have scars later on.

"You need more practice if you really want to beat me, yeah," he boasted. I rolled my eyes at him; his head would become too big someday and explode.

"Shut up. You're so arrogant, your head may get bigger with your ego. I hate you," I growled.

Deidara disappeared when I went to look back at him. I squeaked when I felt his breath on my ear; he wrapped his arms around me.

"If you hate me so much then why is your face so read, hmm?" He chuckled. I could feel my face flush a bright tomato red. Curse me and my need to blush.

"I'm n-not b-blushing! It's just too h-hot." I pathetically squeaked a response. His arms got tighter around my waist and he nuzzled my neck.

_Don't faint, don't faint! Holy shiitake mushrooms! He smells good...I'm going to melt...ack, no don't go under the influence!_

I turned my head toward him and stuck out my tongue. Real mature right, not.

"I can teach you better ways to use that tongue of yours, hmm," he said in a low seductive tone.

My face was probably so hot you could cook an egg on it. I managed to squirm out of his hold, but ended up falling on the ground. Deidara, suddenly, started to laugh. I felt so embarrassed and confused.

"Like I would want to try anything with you, yeah!" he said between laughs.

I scowled realizing that to him this was all a joke. I felt differently because I liked him, but I wasn't going to say it out loud, especially now. I felt my heart give a tug and got up and limped out of the medical room.

I made it into the library, the very few places Deidara didn't go to, and sat on one of the chairs in the back. I hadn't realized I was crying until a tear fell onto the couch; I rubbed my eyes and tried to stop the tears from falling.

"You want to play with my emotions? Two can play the game of seduction," I muttered darkly. It felt weird talking to myself, but I felt better. I would play Deidara's little game and see how he liked to be messed with.

_Let the games begin..._

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

Walking sucks. Itachi and Kisame are ninjas so shouldn't they know some teleportation jutsu or something. We had left the small village the next day, to the dismay of the annoying girl. My katanas were missing and I had a feeling one of the two had them.

"How much longer are we going to be traveling?" I whined. My feet ached and I was hungry; we left without eating.

"We're almost there," Kisame answered, sounding a little pissed off.

I glared at him. "Kisame, you said that three hours ago." I had nothing to entertain myself with and looking at trees all the time wasn't fun either.

_I wonder if I have my chakra back?_

I clasped my hands together and tried to feel my chakra; I felt a little bit. Itachi gave me a sharp look and I turned my face to the ground. I forgot that they could sense chakra. I wasn't going to try and escape; I would've tried by now if I wanted to. I kept my face down and just looked at the earth. My head bumped into something solid but soft. I looked up to meet onyx eyes staring down at me with no expression.

"Sorry," I squeaked, putting my hands up. I looked around seeing nothing, but a large rock and then more trees. Maybe the large rock was some kind of secret base or something.

"Come on kid. We're going up," Kisame said. I looked up at the large trees surrounding us. They had to be kidding, all the way up there.

"Up there?" I asked, dumbly. Kisame nodded and I sighed. I didn't have enough chakra to walk up the tree or much strength to just jump up in one bounce. I walked to the base of the tree and jumped, trying to grab the lowest branch. On my second try I managed to grab the branch and pull myself up. I stood on the branch and looked down at the two ninjas below. Kisame quirked an eyebrow at me while Itachi's face stayed the same.

"What? I don't have much chakra 'cause some smart person sealed it. It's starting to come back, but I don't have enough to walk up a tree," I stated.

Itachi disappeared and I felt a light wind. I jumped when I realized he was right behind me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me up so my face was in his chest. I could feel my face heating up; I tried to squirm away.

"What are you doing?" I cried in alarm.

"Taking you up. Don't move unless you want to be dropped," he said blandly. With that I felt him jump off the branch and up another and another. I stiffened at the prospect of being dropped from so high. Itachi smelled like the forest and campfire smoke; it actually smelled kind of good. I mentally smacked myself for thinking that.

_Why is he carrying me? I mean Kisame could do it...but then again Kisame has Samehada strapped to him...maybe I'd be too much weight...ya right that guys built like a giant. I actually rather have Itachi carry me...he smells nice and he's good looking...Ack bad thoughts!_

I shook my head trying to get any thoughts of Itachi being hot out of my head. I must've looked like I was nuts 'cause I heard Kisame chuckle, well that or because my face was as red as a tomato.

Itachi let me go and made some quick hands signs; I couldn't follow them at all. He pressed his hand on the tree and then stepped back. He gestured for me to go and I just gave him the are-you-crazy look.

"You want me to walk into a tree? I'm not that stupid you know," I barked.

Kisame sighed. "Just go." He shoved me into the tree and I covered my face. I felt a strange tingle and then nothing. I opened my eyes to find myself in a hallway filled on both sides with doors. Kisame and Itachi came through next.

I stared at the wall they had come through. "Wow, that was...cool." I thought I was going to be smashed against a tree at first. The tree looked normal, but who knew there was a huge base inside.

"Come one you have to see Leader-sama." Kisame led the way while Itachi trailed behind. I peeked down the halls and just saw more doors. One room was open and turned out to be the kitchen. It was surprisingly clean since there was only one girl in the organization. I jumped when I heard a door slam. Someone wasn't happy; I could tell because they stomped down the hall.

"Someone's not happy," Kisame muttered. I nodded and looked around Itachi to see who it was. I saw wavy red-orange hair and blue-gray eyes. I blinked a couple of times, but the person storming toward us was real. She was too in her thoughts to notice us and passed right by me.

"Callia?" I called. She spun around and stared at me as if she was seeing a ghost.

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 3/23/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

When I looked into Tsunade's office there was no one there except for her. I frowned a bit; I had set my hopes up, again. Gaara gave me a nudge and I walked in with him behind me. Tsunade's chair was turned around so she was looking out her window. I waited a few moments and then coughed.

"Azula, I have a hunch about where Eri might have gone," she said still facing the window.

"Really? So who?" I wanted to shake her until she told me. Tsunade finally turned around and

gave me a thoughtful look.

"The Akatsuki," she breathed.

"Akatsuki? Why would they kidnap Eri?" I inquired. How did they even know about her?

"I haven't figured that out yet. This will be troublesome if they really did kidnap her." The corner of my mouth twitched when she used Shikamaru's word. There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in." I turned to see Sakura with someone behind her.

Tsunade glanced at the other person behind her before looking at her student. "Sakura what can I do for you?"

"I have a person here who would like to talk to you Tsunade," the pink haired girl said. She nodded once and turned back to me.

"I'll let you know what else I find. Why don't you go out and try to relax a little, Azula," she ordered. I sighed and nodded at her. I heard a gasp and then the person behind Sakura pushed her to the side.

"Az?" I stared at the girl. She looked familiar and then it clicked.

"Kiku!" I cried. I rushed to her side and pulled her into a warm hug. I didn't recognize her with her blond hair now in a bob. She looked different without her long hair that she had had for a while.

I looked at her face and couldn't help but smile wider. Ever since Eri went missing I've missed the faces of my friends. I noticed that her dark eyes seemed slightly glazed over or maybe it was a trick of light.

"I've been so worried about you. Have you seen the others?" I checked her for any signs of injury.

"I was with Callia when we first got here. She got kidnapped, though." Kiku frowned and sighed. She rubbed her temples; this was a sign that she was very frustrated. I patted her lightly on her back.

"It's all right. We'll find her together. Eri also got kidnapped," I murmured.

"So, Eri and Callia got kidnapped. Do you know who kidnapped Eri?" she asked.

"Well, Tsunade thinks that maybe the Akatsuki did it." I gave a grunt. Her face seemed to shift between emotions.

"I saw Deidara and Tobi take Callia," she whispered. I nodded, maybe Tsunade was right about the Akatsuki theory.

"Azula, who is your friend?" I had forgotten that Tsunade was still in the room.

"This is Kiku. She is one of my friends that came to this world as well," I introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kiku." Kiku nodded not really looking at Tsunade. I nudged her arm.

I frowned at her and said, "Don't be rude. Shake her hand."

Kiku frowned and took a hesitant step forward. Slowly she made her way toward the Hokage until she was in front of her desk. Kiku placed her hand on her desk as if to see what was in front of her. I frowned at her strange behavior. She put her hand out and waited. Tsunade gave her peculiar look and then shook her hand.

"Azula, Gaara, and Sakura could you all step out for a moment so I can talk to Kiku." Tsunade demanded more than asked.

"Sakura can stay. She already knows enough," Kiku mumbled. I stared at the back of my friend's head.

"What's going on Tsunade?" I wanted to know why I had to leave.

_Why didn't Kiku say I could stay. I'm her best friend not Sakura._

"Azula, please just step out and go with Gaara." I felt Gaara shift next to me and lightly grabbed my arm to pull me out. I wanted to protest, but Tsunade gave me a look. Sighing I went with the young Kazekage. When the door closed I started to pace the floor.

"Why won't she let me stay? I've known Kiku longer than any of you guys and yet Sakura gets to stay. Is she sick? Oh my god! What if she got raped or something!" I fumed.

"Azula, calm down," Gaara said. I ignored him.

I ranted, "I can't calm down. Kiku could've gotten raped and she too ashamed to tell me! She should know I would never judge her if that happened."

"She'll tell you what happened when she's ready," he stated calmly.

"But-" Gaara put his hands on my shoulders.

"Calm down." He looked me in the eyes. He looked worried as he stared at me.

I tried to breath normally again. Gaara was right; when she was ready, Kiku will tell me everything. I had been so frustrated that I almost forgot that Gaara was touching me, almost. When that registered in my head, my face felt a lot hotter. I turned my head slightly and jumped when I saw how close he was.

"Ah, um...I'm going for a walk," I stuttered.

He blinked and gave me a slightly confused look. "I'll come with you."

"No!" Gaara stared at me. I slapped my head with the palm of my hand. I made it seem like I didn't want him to be near me at all when it was quite the opposite.

"I-I mean I need time to think all this through. I just need to be alone for a while," I pleaded.

He nodded once and turned to leave. I deflated when he turned the corner. I had just messed up my love life when it just got rolling. First I needed to tell Kankuro how I felt about him and then somehow get the guts to tell Gaara how I felt about him. I hated my life right now.

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

When the door closed I let out a breath of relief. I really didn't want to let Azula worry about my eye problems. I would tell her after I talked to the Hokage.

"So, uh, you know?" I asked, frowning.

"Well, I am a medic so yes I know you're blind." She had sharp eyes when it came to anything medical. I fidgeted a little and then sighed.

I looked at her, scared of her answer to my question. "Can you fix it?"

"Let me see. Come here for a second." Someone, Sakura I assumed, guided me to Tsunade. I felt a cool hand cover my eyes and waited. I felt chakra on my eyes; she was probably seeing the damaged.

"You have a lot of damaged nerves in your left eye. Your right eye isn't as bad, but there is some damage there. I could probably fix this. Your left eye may never be as good as your right," she informed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't care. As long as I can see in both eyes. I had twenty-twenty vision, but if not having perfect vision in both eyes means you can fix them then I'm fine with it."

"Fine. Be at the hospital two days from now. I have a lot of other things to do. You don't mind waiting, right?" I pulled away from her.

"No that's fine." I felt better. I could now tell Azula, and I would be able to see again in two days. Sakura led me to the door and outside.

"Thanks Sakura. I'll be fine by myself," I said and gave her a smile.

"Are you sure?" She sounded worried.

"Yeah. I'll just try and wander around without bumping into anything," I joked. She didn't laugh; I guess she doesn't have a sense of humor.

"Well, okay. If I see Azula I'll tell her you're out wandering the stores," she said. With that I heard her leave.

I was dependent on my hearing ever since I lost my sight. I felt like a dog, but I guess my hearing has gotten more sensitive since then. I stuck my hand out trying to feel something I could follow. My hand met what felt like a wooden fence. I decided to follow the fence and see where I ended up. Walking straight while trailing my fingers on the fence I hummed a tuneless melody.

"Wonder if I could find someone I know?" I mumbled to myself.

_Talking to yourself means you're going crazy...I was a little already crazy anyways..._

Ahead I heard shuffling and giggling. I cocked my head to the side and kept walking. As I kept going I heard some more giggling and someone shushing the other voices.

"AHHHH!" Someone screamed to my right. My fingers brushed against what felt like the corner of the fence. I looked in the general direction of the screaming person.

"I said AHHH!" I blinked and realized the person talking was lower than I was. It must be a kid or something.

"Konohamaru, if it didn't work the first time then it won't work again," another voice said.

_Oh so that's who it is...stupid kid...cute still_

"Fine let's see how she feels about my sexy jutsu!" I heard a pop.

"You idiot don't do that when there are ladies present," the same voice screeched. I heard an audible thwack and then another pop.

"Hey, kid," I said flatly

"I'm not a kid," he protested.

"I'm not affected by your jutsu because I can't see and also I've always thought it was kind of cool." I grinned. I always thought that jutsu was hilarious and one of Naruto's best creations.

"Really!" I nodded and could just imagine Konohamaru smiling while Moegi was probably having a heart attack. My friends had a heart attack when I told them I wanted to learn it.

"I'm Kiku," I said.

"Oh, ya I'm Konohamaru. This is Moegi and Udon," he introduced.

"Idiot she can't see who you're pointing at," Moegi scoffed. I smirked slightly because she reminded me of Sakura.

"Oh, uh the annoying voice is Moegi and Udon is the one who hasn't talked yet, but he sounds like he has a cold," he amended.

"Konohamaru!" I heard another punch and chuckled. She really did remind me of Sakura. Konohamaru was a lot like Naruto. Udon, well he didn't remind me of Sasuke that's for sure.

"So, what were you guys doing?" I asked curiously.

"Well, we were trying to scare people who walked around the corner," Konohamaru said.

"You guys aren't very good at it. I could hear you guys giggling the whole time I walked," I pointed out.

"We just started being ninjas. Hey wanna play ninja with us?" He exclaimed. I could hear the excitement in his voice.

"Um, I'm kinda hungry. Maybe after I eat I'll play with you guys." I patted my stomach.

"Okay let's go to Ichiraku. Maybe Naruto is there." With that I heard Konohamaru running off. I felt someone take my hand and looked down.

"I'll help you," Moegi said in her sweet voice. I kind of felt like a handicapped person, but then again I was blind.

"Ah, thanks Moegi." Apparently Ichiraku wasn't that far away. We made it in a short amount of time. I found myself sitting on a stool with the three other kids next to me.

"What would you like?" the old ramen guy asked me.

"Uh...give me anything." It's not like I could read the menu since that had to be read with your eyes.

"So what village are you from?" Udon asked/sniffed.

"Uh, I'm not from around here or any village," I said, uncertainly.

"Here ya go." I felt a steaming bowl place in front of me. It smelled really good. I searched for my chopsticks and pulled them apart. I dug into my meal; I was starving. It tasted great; better than packaged ramen.

"Hmmm, this is great. Now, I understand why Naruto loves to come here. I might get addicted to this." I heard the ramen guy chuckle.

"Kiku?" Out of habit I lifted my head up to see the person.

"Um, hello..." I trailed off. Maybe if I could see I would know who it was.

The voice chuckled. "It's me Kiba."

"Oh, hello Kiba. What are you doing here?" I asked, and stuffed some more noodles in my mouth.

"I was walking Akamaru and thought I saw your head," he said. I imagined that he was shrugging.

"Who's the dog guy?" Konohamaru mumbled between slurping ramen.

"Konohamaru, this is Kiba and his dog Akamaru. He graduated with Naruto," I said, feeling smart.

"How'd you know that?" Kiba sounded surprised.

"Um, I know a lot about you guys." I realized how stalkerish I sounded. It was the truth though; I knew a lot about everyone here. Kiba must've took it as a compliment.

"Really? Wow and yet I don't know anything about you except your name." I laughed and continued eating.

"Hey, is he your boyfriend?" I nearly choked on my noodles when Moegi asked that.

"Moegi! Why would you think that? I just met him," I insisted.

"Oh, so do you like her then?" she asked innocently. I wanted to smack her on the head. Since I couldn't see her, it wasn't really possible and she's a kid so that wouldn't be nice. There was silence until Konohamaru started to laugh. I scrunched up my face wondering why he was laughing.

Curious I asked, "What's so funny?"

"If only you could see his face!" The squirt snorted.

"What's wrong with Kiba's face?" I really wish I could see.

"His-" he started.

There was the sound of shuffling and then a lot of movement. "Nothing!" I cocked my head to the side as Kiba sounded panicky.

"Now I really wish I could see." I pouted slightly.

"I have to go," Kiba mumbled. I frowned at his sudden departure.

"Hey! Wait for me." I gulped down the rest of my soup. I tried to get up, but tripped over my chair and fell on my face.

"I must have a sign that says 'I love the floor' or something," I grumbled.

"Kiku! Are you alright?" Moegi sounded worried. How sweet.

I gave her a wave. "Yeah, Moegi. I'm fine." I pushed myself off the ground and felt something warm and fuzzy next to me.

"Hey Akamaru. Are you going to help me walk," I cooed. He was just so adorable. I always wanted to see how fluffy he was.

"Woof!" I scratched his ear and smiled.

"Sorry guys, but I'll have to play ninja later."

"Bye, Kiku!" they chorused together.

I held onto Akamaru's fur and started to walk out of the ramen shop. I just left the kids to pay for my meal. How evil am I?

"Kiba?" I inquired; I was sure he hadn't left since he wouldn't leave Akamaru.

"Uh, yeah?" He sounded unsure of himself.

I smiled at his direction. "Can I come with you?"

"Uh, s-sure," he stuttered slightly.

"Just so you know I'm blind so you might have to slow down," I warned. There was the sound of feet on pavement as he came near me.

"Okay." I heard him mumble

Akamaru shifted closer to me and I patted his head lightly. I smiled slightly; Kiba was being so considerate and walking next to me to make sure I don't fall.

"So, what was wrong with your face?"

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 4/18/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

I kept blinking at the redhead sitting on the couch next to me. After seeing Callia, we both just stared at each other for a long time. Itachi and Kisame had us move to the living room since we were supposedly blocking the hall.

"You two just gonna stare at one another all day or what," grumbled Kisame. I threw him a dirty look and looked back at my best friend.

"So...Akatsuki and you..." I started, not really knowing what to say.

Callia shifted a little. "Uh...yup...Akatsuki...how about you?"

"I got kidnapped," I said flatly while giving dirty looks to both my captors which they both ignored.

"Callia...I missed you so much." Finally I gave her a hug and she returned it. I was still shocked to see her but happy to have her around.

"I missed you too, Eri," she murmured.

"Leader-sama is not a patient man, ya know kid," Kisame grumbled some more.

"Fine, fine. I'll see you in a bit." I waved goodbye to Callia and followed Itachi down the hall.

I felt sort of nervous to meet Pein in real life. The guy seemed cold, but cool at the same time. One thing I wanted was to meet Konan. I liked her the most out of the Akatsuki group. Tobi was my next favorite because he acted like a child. The rest of the girls didn't seem to like him too much, but then again they did read more of the manga than I did. So they know his character better than me.

"So, Pein wants to see me?" I asked, trying to start a conversation with Itachi.

"Yes," Itachi said curtly.

"He wants me to join the Akatsuki?" I probed, hoping for more than a one word answer.

He didn't even spare me a glance. "Yes."

_It's like talking to a robot! He doesn't say much and I'm trying to start a conversation...stupid emo Uchiha guys...why do they have to be so quiet and hot...wait I didn't mean the last part! Bad Eri! Stop thinking like that!_

"You show too much emotion on your face." My head snapped out of the clouds and I looked at the older Uchiha.

"Um, excuse me?" He looked at me with his dark eyes; no sharingan this time.

"Your emotions are written all over your face. You are easy to read...not a good trait for a ninja," he explained in montone. My mouth hung open. First Itachi just said the longest sentence ever, and second I think he just insulted my ninja skills. Well I didn't have a lot of experience, but still he insulted me.

"Well, not everyone can be a block of ice like you, Mr. Stone face. I, for one, like to show emotions; at least it shows that I'm human," I hissed. We had stopped at a door and I opened it and slammed it in his face.

_Stupid stuck up Uchiha...that's why I never liked you...you're my least favorite person in the Akatsuki._

"Eri." I looked around but didn't see anyone.

I chewed on my lip. "H-hello?" A projection of Pein suddenly appeared in front of me. Even though he wasn't really there, his stare made the hair on my neck stand.

"I am Pein but you must call me Leader-sama. You are to be part of the Akatsuki. Any objections?" he asked; his eyes flashing as if challenging me to object.

That was a stupid question. Anyone who objected Pein would be killed. I would like to live a bit longer; long enough to have a family at least and to try all the different types of tea.

"N-no Pe-Leader-sama!" I bowed awkwardly to him and gave a nervous smile.

"Good. Konan has a cloak and ring for you outside. You'll be sharing a room with Callia and you two will be training with Itachi and Deidara." I assumed I was dismissed so I literally ran for the door and slammed it shut. Konan gave me a strange look, but handed me an Akatsuki cloak and ring.

"Callia will have to move her stuff to your new room. It use to be Hidan and Kakuzu's room so it may be a little dirty," she informed. I followed her down the hall and to a black and red door. She opened the door and left without another word.

_My, the people sure are friendly here...must be the water they drink..._

I carefully walked into the room and stared. It was dirty...hell it looked like a tornado hit the room. There were two beds in the corner on either side of the room. Clothes were thrown across the floor and I think I saw some blood stains near one of the beds.

"Please let there be no dead bodies. Please no dead bodies." I mumbled to myself as I peeked under one of the beds. Nothing under it except cobwebs and dust bunnies. I sighed in relief and walked to the other bed. I looked under and my eyes went wide.

"AHHHH!" I jumped back and kept screaming. I heard the pounding steps of people coming down the hall. The door behind me burst open.

"Eri!" Callia's voice was behind me so I ran blindly into her. I wrapped my arms around her torso and hugged tightly.

_I'm so glad Callia's here...since when has she been so tall or so flat chested?_

I looked up to meet black eyes. I squealed and jumped away from Itachi. Callia poked her head around him. I noticed Itachi had his hand on the door handle, which meant he got there first.

_Oh so that's why he was upfront and not Callia...cue awkward moment..._

Callia pushed past Itachi and looked me over. "Eri! What's the matter? I was getting all my stuff when I heard you scream."

"Uh..I saw something under the bed." I gestured toward the bed with the small bloodstains. Callia went over and looked under. She reached her hand under and pulled something out. She held a small white mouse; the kind with the red eyes.

"Is this what you saw?" She had an amused smile on her face.

"I...but...it...red eyes..." I tried to form a sentence, but couldn't find any words. I could hear Kisame chuckling as well as Deidara. I felt so embarrassed and stared at the ground.

"Hey, I'm gonna put this guy outside. I'll be back Eri; maybe you shouldn't look under any more stuff just in case," she joked before leaving.

"That's not funny. If you had seen it like I did you would've been terrified!" I whined slightly.

"A little white mouse is gonna kill us, yeah!" Deidara said in mock horror.

"Shut up Deidara-chan!" I snapped back at him.

"What'd you call me, un?" He sounded slightly angry now.

"You heard me barbie." Before he could say anything else I pushed Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara out the door and slammed it shut. Leaning against it, I sat on the ground.

_I'm so embarrassed, not only did I scream seeing a mouse but I hugged Itachi. If I weren't part of the team he would've killed me for sure. I just want to die...well not on this dirty floor I don't._

Sighing I got back up and started to pick up the clothes and tossed them into the trash. Callia and I had a lot of cleaning to do. Maybe doing a lot of cleaning would get my mind off a certain person with dark onyx eyes.

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

I decided to let the mouse go on the training grounds. It was the closest place to outside; hopefully it wouldn't be killed by one of Deidara's explosions. I got back up as the mouse scurried away and went back into the hallway. I still needed to get some stuff from my old room. I was thankful that Pein had let me room with Eri.

Deidara was laying on his bed. "That was interesting, hmm." I ignored the blond as I grabbed the few things I needed. I could feel his eyes on me as I moved.

"Like what you see?" I said flatly.

"Yes very much, un." I gave him a brief look and saw him smirk at me. Rolling my eyes I turned my back to him and grabbed my clothes and necessities. I heard Deidara leave the room as I tried to decide on what I needed.

_Hmm, clothes, weapons, bathroom stuff...anything else?_

After checking my stuff I decided I had everything I needed. Turning around I froze on the spot. Deidara had just come back and I guess he had just taken a shower in the other bathroom. He only had black ninja pants on and a towel around his neck. I've seen him in a towel, so I shouldn't be embarrassed, but I felt my cheeks burn.

"Like what you see, hmm?" He gave a cocky smile. My eye twitched when he used my line. I breathed in and started walking toward him like a cat stalking its prey.

_Don't let him play with you. If he wants to play this game, I'll play with his mind too...I can do it..maybe..._

He stepped back when I didn't stop walking toward him. I lowered my eyes, tipping my head up, and stared at his face.

"Actually, I very much like the view. You're so well toned; better than guys from my world," I half purred. In my head I wanted to scream. I've never tried to seduce a guy and promised myself I would never do it. Yet here I was, trying to seduce my anime crush.

I had walked forward and Deidara kept backing up so that his back was against the door, but he didn't seem to notice. He was staring at me with mixed emotions that I couldn't read. I cupped his face and stared into his eyes and then traced his jaw. My other hand was resting on the doorknob.

I felt him shiver as I traced his chest. I still didn't take my eyes off him. A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I leaned in closer and could smell soap and shampoo. Standing on my toes I was almost eye level with him. He seemed to lean down a little and I leaned in even more.

"I especially like this view." I said in a breathy voice. The space between our lips was getting smaller by the second. I could feel heat radiating off of him. Just as we were inches apart, I turned the doorknob and watched at Deidara tumbled backwards and onto the floor.

"What the hell, yeah!" His face was bright red.

"I change my mind, I like this view way better," I said while laughing. I walked around him and started down the hall. I stopped and turned around looking at him still on the floor.

"How does it feel to be beaten at your own game? Not so much fun now is it?" I smirked at him and kept walking. I heard him say something, but couldn't quite catch what he said. I opened the door to my new room and closed it. A goofy smile spread across my face as I leaned against the door.

_I was so close to kissing him...hahaha got him good too...although...I wonder what it would've been like to actually kiss him..._

"Someone seems happy." Eri raised an eyebrow and looked at me. I just smiled and plopped down on one of the newly cleaned beds.

"That was so much fun." I still had a goofy smile.

She glanced at me. "What was?" she asked. I just smiled at her. Eri shook her head and turned back to the bathroom. She had cleaned up the room and was proceeding to clean the bathroom.

She tossed me a hand towel. "Help me clean this room up. The bathroom is gross. I don't think Hidan believed in cleaning up after himself." Sighing I got up and went to the bathroom. I still felt giddy from what had just happened a few minutes ago.

* * *

><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 4/18/13**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

I tugged on the bandage wrapped around my eyes. Someone, most likely Azula, slapped my hand away. Two days had passed rather quickly for me. I spent most of my time walking around Konoha with Azula, Naruto, Sakura, or Kiba. The day of the operation I had to wait in the hospital alone. Tsunade said that after the operation, I would have to leave the bandages on for at least a week. It's kind of annoying to be walking around with bandages around your eyes.

"Don't touch them," Azula scolded.

"But it bothers me," I whined.

"Oh don't whine. You'll have them off in a few seconds." Frowning, I slide further into my seat.

A week had passed rather fast, but I really wanted to see. Also, I had an itch and just had to scratch it. Azula had been bothering me all week when she found out about my operation. She made sure I ate and didn't touch my bandages. She gave me a long lecture about not telling her that I couldn't see and to be more careful next time. I told her she was acting like Callia, mother hen, and she told me that I needed her or I would probably end up killing myself.

"Kiku, come on in." I heard Sakura walk toward me and guide me into the hospital room. I sighed and mentally rolled my eyes at her, not that she would have noticed in the first place.

"Sakura, I'm very capable of walking into a room that is right across from me." With that I slammed my knee on the hospital bed.

"Ow!" I rubbed my aching knee.

"Yeah, you're very capable of walking by yourself," Azula said sarcastically. I could just see her rolling her eyes at me.

"Oh, shut up. I never liked these bed things anyways," I retorted lamely. Sitting down again I listened for Tsunade to come in. I heard the faint clicks of her heels and the door opened.

"Hello, Kiku. How are you today?" she asked, pleasantly.

"My knee hurts." I pouted slightly.

"..."

"What no 'poor Kiku' or anything? How rude. You're supposed to be a doctor." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Ignore her, Tsunade. She's just a little grumpy today. Kiku's usually nice 55% of the time," Azula commented.

"Hey!" Azula ignored my call of protest.

"The other 45% she's just clumsy," she said in an amused voice.

"I feel highly offended. I'm not that clumsy. Sure I've had more stitches than a person has fingers, but that doesn't make me clumsy." I made a weak protest.

"You're the only person who can trip while walking on a flat surface and need five stitches." If she could see my eyes, Azula would have seen my death glare.

"Are you two ladies done?" I could hear the annoyance in Tsunade's voice and wondered if her eye was twitching. I nodded while Azula remained quiet.

"Okay, well let me take these bandages off. You'll be able to open your eyes after that." I felt her hands pulling off the bandages slowly. I could feel the tight wrappings falling away. Finally she stopped and I heard her step back.

Slowly I opened my eyes. At first everything was blurry and grayish. As I kept blinking everything was coming into focus. I could see Azula, Sakura, and Tsunade looking at me with curiosity. Everything was so bright, before my whole world was night and now I could see.

"Kiku?" Azula asked cautiously.

"I-I can see again! This is amazing! Thank you so much Tsunade!" I jumped up and hugged her. Tsunade was in shock but laughed. I felt so happy, I could see everything, including my best friend's face.

"Azula this is wonderful. I can see you now and...what are you wearing?" I raised one eyebrow at her attire. Azula shook her head at me but smiled.

"That's the first thing you notice about me? I'm hurt that you don't notice my happy face." I pulled her into a hug. It was nice to see everything in color, not just hear everything around me.

"Hey, let's celebrate and go to the ramen shop!" I said excitedly.

"Why am I not surprised that you want to eat," amusement laced her words.

"Because you know me so well." I grinned and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the hospital room.

"Later, Tsunade and Sakura! Thanks again!" Waving good-bye, we headed out. Konoha looked even better in real life than in the anime. It was so green and so colorful; it was beautiful. Up ahead I saw a large white dog walking next to a boy in a black jacket.

"Kiba! Akamaru! Hi!" Both boy and dog turned around. Kiba stared at me while Akamaru ran up to us. He jumped on me, nearly knocking us onto the ground.

"Hey big boy. I can finally see you and you really are big." I ruffled his fur and patted his head. Kiba came up to us. I smiled at him.

"Y-you can see me?" His eyes were wide with shock.

"Yup! I just got the bandages off a few moments ago. I can finally see." I felt giddy with excitement and couldn't stand still. Azula rolled her eyes at me and smiled.

"We're going to go get ramen. Want to come?" I cocked my head to the side in question.

Akamaru barked while Kiba answered, "Sure."

All four of us headed off again. Akamaru walked between Kiba and me. Kiba kept staring at me; probably still surprised I could see now. Now that I could see, I had a lot of things I wanted to do.

* * *

><p>(Azula's PV)<p>

I watched a Kiku ate her ramen rather quickly. I really wasn't a fan of ramen so I just picked at my noodles. Kiku would probably eat it for me anyways. She seemed in a much better mood now that she had her eye sight back.

"Kiku, swallow or you'll choke," I warned her.

"Ah, you worry too much Az. I may fall and trip a lot, but I definitely won't choke on my food," she informed before shoving more noodles in her mouth with gusto.

I shook my head at her as she kept eating. I looked down at the big white dog sitting next to her stool. Akamaru was taking a snooze, I think. Looking at Kiba, I saw him staring at Kiku. He had been doing that a lot, staring that is. Even when she couldn't see he would stare at her; but since she could see he had to turn away whenever she looked at him.

"Kiba? How's your ramen?" I asked with a grin. Kiba looked at me and turned a nice shade of red. His face marks almost blended in with his cheeks. I laughed while Kiku gave me a quizzical look. I just shook my head and she went back to eating.

_She doesn't even know what's going on. I wonder if she will ever know;.probably not unless he tells her or someone else tells her._

Kiku was clueless to the fact that Kiba had a major crush on her from the moment she came to Konoha. She was naive in that sense, she assumed every boy who approached her wanted to be friends. It was like this in school as well. Boys would try and get close to her, but she would remain under the illusion that they only wanted to be friends.

Kiba seemed like a nice enough guy. At least she wasn't crushing on Sasuke anymore. She had gone on a rant about how cold hearted he was and how on earth she could've liked him. I just nodded and agreed with her. Everyone else thought that Sasuke was a jerk from the beginning. I'm just glad she got over it; who knows, maybe she might fall for the dog boy.

_While my love life is getting complicated...I sometimes hate my life._

I haven't seen Gaara since the last time I talked to him and that was two weeks ago. He and Kankuro were still in Konoha. I didn't know when they had to go back, but probably soon. I told Kankuro that I only liked him as a friend. Boy did that go well for me. I think he was hurt that I didn't like him the same way. He guessed that I liked Gaara, but stalked off before I could say anything else. He'd been avoiding me like the plague ever since.

"Az? You there, Azula?" I blinked as Kiku waved a hand in front of my face. She had finished eating and I noticed my bowl was gone as well.

"Yeah, I was just thinking. So what do you want to do now?" I asked.

"Well Kiba suggested a walk around Konoha." I looked over at him, but he didn't meet my eyes.

"Actually why don't you two just go. I've been around Konoha already and I'm tired." Kiba stared at me with shock. Kiku turned to look at him and he quickly shut his mouth.

"Well, I guess that's fine." Kiku looked at Akamaru and patted his head. I locked eyes with the dog ninja and mouthed 'Good luck' and winked. I wanted to laugh when his face turned red again.

Waving goodbye to both of them I headed off to the school. I don't know why, but I just felt the need to take a walk. It was a nice day, actually it's always a nice day in Konoha. I went into the schoolyard and sat on the swing under the tree. The kids were still in class, so it was quiet. I swung lightly back and forth on the swing trying to clear my head.

"Azula?" I looked at a pair of black ninja sandals and black pants. I lifted my head up to meet brown eyes and face paint. Kankuro stared at me for a while not saying anything. I looked back down at his shoes trying to calm down.

"What are you doing here?" he, finally, asked.

"Just chilling out. What are you doing here?" I tried to sound nonchalant.

"Taking a walk." he said flatly.

"Oh." Again there was a long pause. I wondered if he was still mad at the fact that I chosen Gaara over him. I've always liked Gaara from the start so it made sense. I just didn't like the fact that I hurt him.

"Listen, I'm sorry," he muttered. My head snapped up and I stared at him.

"W-what?" The shock was evident on my face.

He looked away from me. "Sorry for the way I acted that time. I just let my emotions get the better of me. So...friends?" My brain tried to process this but failed. I just nodded dumbly at him. He gave me a small smile and put out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Kankuro." Slowly a smile formed on my face.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Azula." I giggled as we shook hands. I felt so much better now that he didn't hate me. I really did like Kankuro, just more like a friend. He treated me well even though we sometimes argued.

"So where's your friend?" he inquired.

"Kiku? She's walking around Konoha with Kiba. Now that she can see she wants a tour of the place. I kind of set them up because Kiba seems to like her a lot."

"No kidding. He's like a dog following her around," Kankuro snorted with amusement. Sighing I looked up at the clear blue sky. The clouds looked so fluffy and light. They moved across the sky in a lazy fashion.

"Now I understand why Shikamaru likes looking at the clouds so much." I said, more to myself.

Kankuro made a face. "Who, the pineapple kid?"

I gave him a half hearted glare saying, "It's not nice to call him that. He has a name. How would you like if everyone referred to you as the kitty cat guy?" Kankuro grinned at me and just shook his head. He took a seat under the tree and leaned back, hands folded behind his head.

"I don't really mind. Who cares what they call me," he said and shrugged.

I smirked before questioning him. "So you wouldn't mind if I called your face paint makeup?"

"That I would mind. Its face paint," he said in mock hurt.

"Whatever you say." I chuckled and looked at the school. I missed my home. I missed my mom and dad. I didn't know if they were worried about me or had no idea I was gone. Sure Konoha was great and being in the Naruto was like a dream come true, but I still missed my old life. A life I didn't have to worry about getting killed or kidnapped by an evil organization.

"What's up?" Kankuro gave me a curious look.

"Just thinking."

"About?" He was being persistent.

"Home. I miss my family. I miss having all my friends together. We use to have sleepovers and go out and have fun. I'm worried that the Akatsuki might try and come after Kiku and me. I'm afraid I'll never see Callia or Eri again," I admitted.

Kankuro remained silent. There were times I forgot about all the danger we were in. It was those times I wish I could have all the time. Then, something would remind me that two of my best friends were missing and that Kiku and I might be next.

"Well, if the Akatsuki do come for you, I won't let you go without a fight. I'm pretty sure everyone would fight to get you guys back," he reassured.

"Let's just hope Kiku doesn't meet Deidara again. She wants to kill the guy for throwing a bomb at her. She can be too rash sometimes." In my opinion Kiku could be like Naruto, act without thinking about the consequences.

* * *

><p>(With Kiku, Kiba and Akamaru)<p>

"Aaaaahchooo!"

"Bless you," Kiba said. He glanced at the girl with concern.

"Thanks. My Kiku senses are tingling. Someone is talking about me." Kiba raised an eyebrow at the blond girl.

"How would you know that?" he asked, half amused.

"Like Spider Man can sense when someone is in trouble I can sense when someone is talking about me," she explained matter of factly.

"Who's Spider Man?" Kiku sighed and shook her head.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand it anyways."

"Try me," Kiba insisted.

"Okay. So Spider Man is this guy who was normal until he got bitten by a 'special' spider and gained spider like abilities. He uses his powers to save people and all that stuff. He hides his identity by wearing a mask so his loved ones won't get hurt. Now there are different versions of Spider Man. We have the comic version, movie version, and cartoon version. Well, actually there's even a musical on him too. Oh yeah, he's not real either, he's like made up from someone's mind. Okay, so he has a lot of enemies like The Sand Man, Dr. Octopus, and the Green Goblin. Now, in his world-"

"I'm so lost." Kiba had a very lost look on his face.

"Hate to say I told you so but...I told you so!" Kiku sang. Kiba shook his head at her.

"I think I have a headache now." Kiku laughed at him and looked down at Akamaru. He wagged his tail at her and stared happily at the two.

"Well, I want to do something fun," she said while looking around.

"Like what?" Kiba wondered if he really wanted to know.

"Climb the Hokage Mountain!" Kiku pointed at the mountain in front of them.

"Uh, why?" Kiba rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't know. It looked like a lot of fun when Naruto was hanging upside down from the Hokage's nose. Come on let's do it." She widened her eyes and jutted out her lip. Kiba groaned, it was the pouty face. He couldn't say no to a face like that. Well, it's not like he would've said no in the first place, not to Kiku at least.

"Fine let's go." He groaned slightly.

"Yeah! I officially love you, Kiba!" The blonde ran off ahead enthusiastically not seeing that Kiba's face had turned a brilliant shade of red.

* * *

><p>(Meanwhile...)<p>

"Aaaahchooo!"

"Bless you. Are you getting sick Deidara?" Callia looked concerned at the blond boy. He sniffed and proceeded to eat.

"I don't get sick," he said.

"They say when you sneeze that means someone is talking about you. I'm not surprised that people would talk about you," Eri stated not taking her eyes off her sketchpad.

"I'm flattered people like to talk about me, yeah," Deidara said.

"They're probably saying bad things about you. You aren't a very popular ninja to talk about unless it's to bad mouth you," Callia pointed out. Eri nodded in agreement with Callia. People rarely talked nice about a rouge ninja let alone a rouge ninja that's part of the Akatsuki.

"Whatever...you were still worried about me though, hmm." Deidara gave a smug smile at the redhead. Callia stuck her tongue out.

"Only because I don't want you to die because of a cold. If you're going to die I rather see you blown up or something way cooler and more painful." Deidara raised an eyebrow. He had no idea that she had violent thoughts, but it made it all the more appealing.

"I'm touched by your concern, un. You know, I can teach you a few things you could do with that tongue of yours." He wiggled his eyes at her. Callia face flushed and she turned her head away without another word.

Eri chuckled at the two. They argued almost all the time. It was amusing to see who would top who.

"You two done flirting? I swear just make out already. I can feel the sexual tension between you two. It's going to make me sick," Kisame said while walking into the room. He said it half mockingly. Both teens turned bright red at his statement. Eri was choking on her spit and rolled off the couch.

"I don't know what you're talking about, fish face, un," Deidara mumbled.

"Please, Deidara, a blind person can see that you two have the hots for each other," Eri said while laughing. Callia started coughing and excused herself from the room. Eri could see her ears were slightly red. Deidara mumbled something inaudible and walked out the opposite side of the room.

Eri grinned widely at the blue man. "Nice one, Kisame." He laughed and gave Eri a toothy smile. Getting back on the couch, the girl flipped a new page in her book.

"Hey, want to be my model?" She gave him a devious smile.

"..." Kisame looked unsure of himself.

"Come on you have nothing better to do. Just sit down and relax," Eri insisted. Kisame grunted but complied. The room was quiet while Eri sketched the blue man. It was a comfortable silence and both didn't realize a certain black haired man watching the whole scene.

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><p><strong>Kitkat d(^.^)b<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Edited: 4/18/13**

**Disclaimer: Same old same old**

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

"Eri-chan!" I looked up from my sketchpad to see Tobi standing in front of me. If I could see his face he would probably be smiling right now.

"What's up Tobi?" I smiled back.

"Does Eri-chan want to practice with Tobi today?" he asked and tipped his head to the side.

I hadn't practiced my fighting in a while. Itachi was suppose to help me, but I had been putting it off so I could draw. Kisame gave me back my katanas; he said they weren't as great as Samehada. Callia spent some time with Deidara and came back really angry, again.

"Well, I guess I could use the exercise," I decided. I closed my book and got up. Going to my room, I grabbed my katanas. Callia was sitting on her bed staring blankly at the ceiling. I tried, before, asking her what was wrong, but she either changed the subject or said she didn't want to talk about what happened. I would have to ask Deidara later if I wanted to know what happened between the two.

"I'm going to go and practice with Tobi," I called. Callia bolted up and stared at me. Her eyes swept the room and then she got up. She walked past me and closed the door. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't go. Tobi isn't who he acts like," She said in a serious tone.

"Oh, so now you decide to talk to me. Tobi isn't bad, I mean annoying but not bad," I defended.

"You don't know everything. You haven't even read up to last update of the manga. I'll tell you what happened. So-" I raised my hand up to stop her from talking. Callia gave me a puzzled look.

"I don't want you to ruin the parts I haven't read. Please, I'll be careful around him," I promised; I wanted to believe that there were still some decent people here.

Callia chewed on her thumb in thought. She looked at me and then nodded. "Eri...I'm coming with you then."

I gave an exasperated sigh and waited for her to get ready. Once she had her stuff, we left to meet Tobi back in the living room. Tobi was sitting down when we got back. He gave a big wave when he saw me.

"Is Callia-chan going to join too?" He gave a look at the redhead, or at least I think it was a look.

"Yeah. She needs to practice as well. You don't mind, right?" I inquired, giving a pleading look.

"Of course not. Tobi likes Callia-chan and Eri-chan very much!" I smiled. He was really a sweet guy. Sometimes I wondered why he joined one of the worst organizations in the ninja world.

Tobi was still a mystery to me. I didn't want Callia to tell me what happened in the story because I would like to find out myself. I think the girls are just exaggerating on how bad Tobi is. They do that a lot so I sometimes don't know if they're telling the truth or not about things like this.

"Okay, everyone follow Tobi." Tobi went to the front entrance and did a few hand signs. The giant rock disappeared and I saw tree limbs again. It was still cool how a huge base was inside a tree. Tobi jumped down and we followed.

"Why aren't we practicing in the training area instead?" I asked curiously.

"Tobi thinks practicing outside will be better for you," he answered quickly. I shrugged and looked at Callia. She seemed on edge the whole time we had left the base. We made it into a small clearing and Tobi turned around.

"Okay, Eri-chan and Callia-chan should attack Tobi whenever they want." I raised an eyebrow. He wanted both of us to attack him. I mean, we're not that great, but two against one isn't very fair.

"Isn't that unfair to fight two against one?" I asked.

"Don't worry Tobi won't get hurt." Callia narrowed her eyes at him. She seemed to be thinking and looked skeptical.

"What are you up to?" she hissed in a low voice.

"Tobi just wants to help Eri and Callia become better fighters," he replied in the same happy voice. I nudged her arm. She looked at me. I could still see doubt in her eyes but she nodded.

"Let's get going." I readied myself to attack. Callia did the same thing. Then we both sprung forward. I grabbed a few kunais and threw them at him. Tobi jumped out of the way. Callia ended up behind him and tried to lunge, but went right through him.

My mouth hung open in surprise. "H-how did you do that?" I didn't think Tobi could do that. Callia didn't look surprised at all. Her mouth was set in a frown and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

"Tobi has a lot of secrets. Don't tell anyone." He put his finger to where is mouth would be on his mask. Callia did a roundhouse kick while he was talking, but he blocked it. She did an uppercut, but he dodged that. He pulled out a kunai and slashed at her. She blocked it with her own kunai. He kept attacking and pushing her backwards toward the trees.

"What are you up to?" she shouted. Callia looked angry. I couldn't hear what Tobi was saying. Trying to form some sort of plan I did some hand signs.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" I slammed the palms of my hand into the ground. A wall sprung up from the ground between Tobi and Callia. Tobi's kunai hit the wall. He placed his hand against it and pushed slightly.

"Not bad..." I heard him mumble. He turned toward me. I blinked and he was gone. Looking around I tried to find his chakra signature, but couldn't sense it at all. I felt a wind behind me and spun around. Tobi threw the kunai and I ducked. The kunai grazed my shoulder as it flew past me.

"Ow. That hurt," I complained.

He didn't say anything. Before I could do anything, he charged at me with another kunai. I jumped out of the way, but he disappeared again. Suddenly I felt a cold blade pressed against my throat. He held me in a chokehold. The blade of the kunai pricked my neck and I could feel blood starting to drip.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Five flaming shurikens flew toward Tobi. He released me and jumped out of the way. I ducked to the side to avoid being hit. Touching the cut I winced. He had cut an area on my neck that had a vein. The shurikens struck a tree and the tree caught on fire. Callia ran to me and knelt down. I noticed a large cut running down her arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah. He could have bruised a major vein," I mumbled. Callia scowled as she inspected my neck.

"Now do you believe me that he's no good?" she demanded. I sighed and hung my head.

"Yeah...I guess." I frowned.

Tobi seemed so nice and yet he was trying to hurt us. We heard a thunk as two kunais embedded into the ground in front of us. Both kunai had blood on them. Tobi stood a few feet away and watched us. We both watched as he did a flurry of hand signs and then pressed his hand into the ground. A circle of blood red words formed around both of us. Something felt off and I didn't like the feeling.

"What the heck is this?" Callia sounded panicky.

"I was hoping you knew, Cal." My body felt stiff. I tried moving but couldn't. Callia seemed to have the same problem as me. We both glanced at each other. Tobi gave a low chuckle. I stared at him, feeling very uneasy.

"What the hell did you do to us?" Callia cried; she was gritting her teeth. The strange symbols seemed to come from both the bloodied kunais. Tobi had cut me and Callia. Were the kunais in the ground the same ones with our blood on it?

"Don't worry, _Callia-chan_, this will only last a few painful minutes," Tobi responded in a menacing voice.

"Why are you doing this? We didn't do anything!" I whispered. I really wanted to understand. It's not like we did anything to him while we were here. We even joined their organization. Tobi didn't say anything for a second.

"Your chakra signals are slightly different from an average ninjas. Since you both come from a different world that may be the reason. I think if I took all your chakra and combined it with the jinjuriki chakra, it will make my plan a lot easier," he explained evenly.

"What if it doesn't work?" I asked a bit hopeful.

"You both die but that's not my problem. Don't worry, your other friends will join you as well," he said and waved his hand nonchalantly. My mouth hung open. He was willing to kill us to try and test out a hypothesis that might not even work at all. I liked nice Tobi better.

Suddenly my legs felt like they were on fire. Shifting my eyes down, I watched as the strange symbols started inching up my body. Wherever they touched seemed to burn my whole body.

Callia hissed in pain as the symbols moved up higher. They moved faster than I thought.

I wanted to cry, the pain hurt so much. I started seeing black splotches in my eyes. Something tugged inside my body and that hurt even more. Callia and I both let out an ear splitting scream as I felt my face melting off. Everything was going black. The last thing I saw was the fire spreading from tree to tree.

* * *

><p>(Kiku's PV)<p>

"Kiku?" asked a concerned Azula

"Hmm?" I looked up from my daydreaming.

"Are you okay?" Azula looked concerned.

"I'm fine Az. I just have something on my mind." I bit my lip while Azula kept watching me.

I'm not very superstitious. I don't believe in ghost or omens and all that stuff. Today I was having breakfast and when I reached for my cup, it cracked. I've seen this happen in Naruto and usually something bad happens or did happen.

I don't want to believe it, but this isn't the real world either. All day I've felt uneasy like something happened that I should be worried about. I thought at first it might have to do with Azula, but now I think it could also be about Callia and Eri. We still haven't seen them; they could be dead for all we know.

"Do you feel like something bad is going to happen or something bad did happen?" I asked in a quiet voice. Azula was silent. I looked over to her; she had a thoughtful look on her face. Turning to face me, I saw something in her dark brown eyes.

"I did have a strange feeling this morning. Why?" She watched me cautiously. So I wasn't paranoid. I felt slightly better, but then stiffened. If she felt something bad was going to happen then it might come true. Or it might have already came true.

I looked at my hands before answering. "I had a bad feeling this morning too. My cup cracked by itself when I reached for it. That's usually considered a bad omen."

Azula chewed on the bottom of her lip nervously. I didn't want to tell her, but I think it's best she knew what was going on. Tsunade still didn't have any information on Callia and Eri. If she doesn't do anything soon I might go and look for them myself.

"Kiku! Azula!" Looking up I saw Naruto running toward us with Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru following behind. Naruto finally made it to us and bent over out of breath. I smiled at him, he was a funny guy.

"Aren't you supposed to be fit since you're a ninja?" Azula giggled. Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess I need to train some more," he said. I heard a sigh next to us and saw Kakashi leaning against a tree with his "adult book" out. Azula did a double take and blinked. She muttered to herself; it sounded like "stupid sneaky ninja."

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" I inquired. He looked up from his book and gave a smile. I still found it funny when he smiled. His eye would close so it would look like he had no eyes at all.

"Well, Tsunade wants to see you two. She told me to come and escort you both to her office," he said. Azula and I shared a look. Maybe this time Tsunade would have some information.

"Okay, lets go," we said in unison. Kakashi nodded and put his book away. Naruto opened his mouth to say something but Kakashi put his hand up.

"Not now, Naruto. Tsunade has something important to talk about," Kakashi said sternly. Naruto closed his mouth. Sakura and Kiba gave quizzical looks. Turning, Kakashi walked toward the Hokage building. I took Azula's hand and gave it a squeeze. We both had our fingers crossed as we followed.

* * *

><p><strong>Doton: Doryūheki- Earth release: earth-style wall<strong>

**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu- Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!**

**Kitkat d(^.^)b**


	16. Chapter 16

**The C.A.K.E Girls**

**Yes, I'm back. So, this story isn't completely abandoned. Now, the updates for this story will be very slow. In regards to the manga, Tobi will remain as Madara in this story since I wrote it like that. I edited each chapter for spelling and grammar and may have tweaked a few things; it doesn't change the story though. That's it for now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p>(Eri's PV)<p>

I remember the time when I had fallen off the uneven bars. I hit the mat so hard that I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. My body was numb from all the drugs they had given me. I had a concussion and a broken wrist. It wasn't so bad, until they stopped drugging me. That's when I felt the pain.

I could feel every muscle in my body burning. All I remembered was that Tobi had tried to kill Callia and I. He had mentioned that we wouldn't live, but I felt very much alive. I opened my eyes, or tried to. Even my eyelids protested in opening. I was met with a blurry grey image.

"C-c...cwe..." My throat burned and my jaw felt like it was unhinged. I was laying on a bed, that much I could tell. I tried feeling for my fingers, but felt nothing. A dark blob hovered over me. I wanted to reach out toward the person. I wanted answers. Instead I felt something cool press against my forehead. The person brushed a few strands of my hair away from my face. I sighed and closed my eyes; I felt suddenly tired.

I woke up again. This time the pain wasn't as intense. I could still feel the burning sensation in my joints. When I opened my eyes, I could see clearer. The ceiling was made of wood; it looked old. It wasn't my ceiling back at the Akatsuki base because the ceilings there were made of stone.

I listened for anyone, but I didn't hear anything. I sat up, ignoring the screaming muscles, and looked around. I was in a small room. There was a table on the other side, a window that showed trees, a long mirror leaning against another wall, and a door. The bed looked like something out of a cheap motel. I was no longer in my regular clothes; they had been folded up and set on the table. I was dressed in a white sleeping yukata.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and placed a tentative foot on the floor. I slowly stood up; my legs shook like I was just learning to walk. I walked slowly and unsteadily to the mirror. I had dark circles under my eyes. Otherwise I didn't look so bad even though I felt like crap. I needed a bath; I could feel my scalp itching. I cautiously walked over to the door and opened it. More door lined either end of the hall.

"Must be a cheap motel," I muttered to myself. I walked down the hall and down the stairs. A short man was reading a newspaper. He had his back to me and his feet propped up on the desk. I could see that there were other people outside; maybe I was in a village. The next question would be who brought me here and why?

I coughed lightly to get his attention. "Um, excuse me?" The man shot out of his chair and spun around. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"M-Ma'am, you're awake! I-what can I do for you?!" he babbled and gave a quick bow. I raised an eyebrow at his behavior. It was as if he was afraid of me.

I tried to smile. "I would like a bath, um, is that okay?"

He nodded eagerly. "Come with me. The woman's bath is over here and here's a towel and robe for after." He handed me a white towel and a white robe. I nodded my thanks, but then stopped.

"Wait! Who, uh, brought me here and is there another person with red hair here?" I asked. He gave me a quizzical look.

"Mr. Itachi of course. He left a a day ago, so I'm not sure when he'll be back. He only brought you here, ma'am," he answered. I nodded and headed into the baths.

_Why would Itachi save me? Where's Callia? _These thoughts kept swirling around in my head. I felt better after a bath and headed back to my room. I changed into my clothes; the burn had faded to a slight ache.

"Do I still have my chakra?" I asked out loud. I clapped my hands together and tried to feel my chakra. A slow smile formed on my face as I felt the familiar surge; I still had my chakra. Which meant that Tobi hadn't been successful in extracting my chakra.

I glanced around the room. "Now what?" I wanted to know what had happened. I would have to wait for Itachi to come back. Sighing, I went over to the window to take in my surroundings. People bustled around the village. They didn't even seem to be bothered by the fact that an Akatsuki member had been wandering around the village. Maybe they didn't know. I wanted to leave, but I didn't have any money, or any idea where I was. All I could do was wait.

I jolted up and felt my cheeks burn as a sudden thought entered my mind. _Did Itachi change me too?!_

* * *

><p>(Callia's PV)<p>

I felt pain and a hand on my chest. My eyes flew open and I slammed my fist into the person hovering over me. My arms screamed in pain, but my fist made connection with whoever was trying to feel me up.

"What the fuck, un!" a familiar male voice cried. I blinked a few times before attempting to sit up. I managed to sit up and leaned against the headboard of the bed. I was in a simple bedroom. I glanced at Deidara, who was clutching his swollen cheek.

"Ssss...erv...yo...ight," I managed to croak. Deidara scowled before getting off the floor. I stared at the glass of water on the table across from me. I looked at him and then back at the water. He grunted and grudgingly handed me the glass. I drank its contents in one swig.

"T-thanks," I rasped. He refilled the glass. I drank until my throat wasn't burning.

"What happened?" I asked, after a few moments. Deidara sat on the edge of the bed. His hair looked slightly messed up, and he looked tired.

"How hell should I know! I went out of the base to look for you, yeah. I find you and Eri screaming and Tobi being some creepy ass!" he exclaimed. I looked around, but didn't see Eri.

"Why am I still alive and where are we?" I demanded. Tobi had said that we wouldn't live. Yet, I was alive and talking to Deidara.

Deidara smirked slightly, looking more like himself. "I decided to save you, so I blew up a few explosive tags. I managed to take you, but I couldn't get to Eri unless I wanted to fight Tobi, un."

I glared at him before saying, "I'm not thanking you since you were groping me. Where's Eri?"

Deidara scowled. "I don't know. I went back to the woods, but she and Tobi had disappeared, yeah. He didn't take her back 'cause I didn't see her at the base."

I chewed on my lip. Eri was missing, but she could be alive. Deidara had saved me for some reason. I glanced at him; he still wore the Akatsuki cloak and ring. I looked down at my own finger; my ring was gone.

"It fell off when the explosion went off. I wasn't groping you; I was changing your bandages, un!" he said. I rolled my eyes at how he hadn't heard the groping thing first and touched my bandaged chest.

"He was trying to take our chakra to add to the jinjuriki extraction. I'm supposed to be dead," I whispered. Deidara gave me hard look.

"Like I would let him kill you! Tobi isn't even a good ninja!" he growled. I smiled and patted his cheek.

I gave him a sly smile. "So, that means you like me." Deidara started to sputter and pulled away. He stood up and turned his back to me. I sighed and got out of bed. I stumbled forward, but grabbed the back of his cloak. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his back.

"Thank you for saving me. I'm very grateful and I owe you one," I said. Deidara stiffened, then relaxed.

"You should be grateful. I have to go back to the base, but stay here. The owner will give you whatever you want, yeah," he ordered with a hint of amusement.

He pulled away and turned to face me. I smiled before standing on my toes and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. His expression was one of pure shock. I pulled away quickly and ran to the open bathroom. I slammed the door closed and leaned against it.

"Damn," he muttered. I heard the door open and close. Letting out the breath I was holding, I hid my face in my hands.

_Why did I do that?! _I shook my head and wanted to bang it into the wall. I needed a bath and time to think.

* * *

><p><strong>The chapters will be longer; I'm still getting into the groove of writing this story.<br>**

**Kitkat d(^.^)b**


	17. End

**Well hello everyone. So, those expecting an update, well this is kind of like one. I've decided after a lot of thought and re-reading my story that I'm going to end it here. I've realized how poorly this story was written. Even after my edits for grammar and plot, the story still seems lacking. Also, the story itself seems childish to me now that I look back. I think it would have been hard for me to keep this story up. There are a lot of things that have changed. The manga has updated to the point where this story is completely AU and I would have to edit the whole story.**

**So, I will write a summary of what would have happened in the story if I had continued. Basically, you'll see where this was headed and my ideas for the OCs. Hope you like the summary and that this satisfies any unanswered questions.**

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><p><strong>Summary of the rest of the C.A.K.E Girls<strong>

Tsunade's message for Kiku and Azula was that Eri and Callia may have been spotted with Akatsuki members. Kiku convinces Azula that they should go out with a scouting group to look for the two. The two girls end up going with Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Hinata and Kiba. They travel in the group for a few days.

In the meantime, Itachi comes back to see Eri waiting for him. He explains, vaguely, that he wanted to stop Madara. Which meant he had to join the Akatsuki to gain some sort of trust. The only reason he saved her was so that Madara wouldn't be closer to unleashing the ten-tailed beast. Upon her constant asking, Itachi starts to teach her genjutsu. He later explains that he was supposed to be on a two week mission extracting information from the village hidden in the leaves. The mission ended sooner than he or Kisame thought, so Itachi went to "visit" Konoha. While training, Eri gets frustrated that she can't even complete a simple genjutsu. Itachi tells her to calm down.

He states, "Not everyone can grasp the concept at their first attempts. Now calm down, Sasuke." Eri is surprised by the slip up. Itachi refuses to talk about it and leaves her for a bit. Eri ponders the mistake and concludes that he still loves his brother even if he massacred his whole clan. She also notes that he sees her like his brother, which spells out more of brotherly feelings than romantic ones.

Callia heals after three days of staying in bed. Deidara tells her that she shouldn't leave the room. Not wanting to stay cooped up and wanting to find Eri, she leaves. Deidara discovers her gone a few hours later, tries to track her down. Madara apparently knows the two girls are alive and is searching for them.

Callia is traveling when she bumps into Azula, Kiku and Kiba. The others were left to fight Sasuke and his team when they met them unexpectedly. Kiku "kidnapped" Kiba and forced him to trace Callia's scent.

Upon seeing each other, the girls hug. Deidara manages to catch up to them. Seeing him, Kiku attacks. She yells at him and calls him a few choice words. Callia manages to pry the girl off him. She explains to the three that without him, she would've been dead. Kiku begrudgingly accepts that she can't kill him.

Deidara informs them that he knows where Eri is. Following him, they make their way to Eri. Kiba saying he doesn't trust him the whole way. Eri is seen coming out of her room when they arrive. The four girls, now reunited, decide to return to Konoha. Deidara, feeling uncomfortable, says he will go back to the Akatsuki. Callia, feeling hurt, says that it is for the best. Eri and Callia hand him back the rings and he promises to say they either died or were captured by Konoha.

The five head back to Konoha, when Madara ambushes them. The girls realize that the only way they might live is to fight. Kiku orders Kiba to find the others and get them here quickly. After some arguing, Kiba relents and runs off. The four know that they have no chance against him, but they're willing try.

The four girls try to attack him, but whatever they do seems to have no effect. After Azula discovers if they attacks one after another, they manage to harm him a bit. Kiku commands the girls to attack him with as many weapons as they have. The weapons are thrown at him and make a crude circle. Kiku uses her lightning technique and performs an electric circle. The forest erupts in an explosion.

Unfortunately Madara is only slightly burnt and still standing. The four girls realize that they're running low on chakra and start trying to formulate an escape plan. Madara manages to trap Azula and Callia in a genjutsu. The two girls start to hallucinate and blindly attack their friends. The genjutsu is broken suddenly by Itachi. Deidara had been flying back, when he saw the explosion. He decided to check in and met Itachi. Though he still dislikes the Uchiha, they agreed to see what had happened.

With the two s-class criminals, the girls believe they have a chance to win. Madara proves to be stronger than he had been showing. After a fierce battle, Madara seems to be summoning the initial circle he had to extract the girl's chakra. Before he can do so, Naruto comes through the clearing and hits him point blank with his rasengan.

With the smoke cleared, all there is left is the orange mask. The girls are relieved to see that Kiba made it in time. Surprisingly Tsunade comes to the clearing as well. Along with her are Anbu officers. They try to attack the two men, but the girls block their path. They all vocalize that even though they are wanted criminals, they still saved their lives. Tsunade calls them off and states that "There is always another time to capture them. Right now we have more important matters."

She presents an old scroll. Unrolling it, there are four marks that look exactly like the ones the girls have on their bodies. She explains that if they swipe a bit of blood on their symbol, they will be able to return home, or so Shikamaru said from the code he cracked. The girls must now decide whether they want to stay or go home. They have a vote. Callia and Azula vote to stay while Eri and Kiku want to go home.

Azula explains that she really cares for Gaara and may even love him. She does not want to leave him for she feels that if she does, she will lose a piece of herself. She firmly states that Suna is her home now. Eri tries to reason and asks her about her parents. What are they supposed to do with their daughter gone? Azula states that they can live because they never really planned to have her in the beginning.

Callia says she chooses to stay because someone has to keep "this idiot" out of trouble. She knows that if she goes with Deidara, she will be considered an enemy. She states that she readily accepts the label as a rogue ninja. Kiku tells her that she'll always be on the run. She, also, tells her that she's leaving behind her baby brother. Callia looks sad and says that this is the path she has decided to take.

The girls hug awkwardly. Eri and Kiku are still disgruntled that the others won't be going home. Kiku, figuring that Kiba had a crush on her, tells him that they probably wouldn't have worked out. She considers him as a dear friend and hopes that he can forgive her. Kiba laughs it off, though Hinata thinks that it will take him some time to heal. Eri gives Itachi a smile. The words she wants to say can't seem to leave her mouth. She decides it is best that he doesn't know about her slight crush. Itachi leaves right after having sensed his brother's presence.

The girls swipe their blood on the scroll and vanish in a flash of light. Azula laughs how ironic it was that they promised to stay together forever. Callia stands next to Deidara. Tsunade warns that once she leaves, she will be in the Bingo Book for anyone to hunt down. Callia shrugs and says that they can come for her, but they won't find her. She turns to Deidara and tells him to get rid of the "stupid" cloak. Deidara dumps it on the ground with the ring and she effectively burns them. He mentions that since she stayed it must mean she loves him. Callia smiles, but neither denies nor confirms the thought. The two head off into the woods.

Azula tells Tsunade that she is ready to "return to my real home." The group head back to Konoha. Back in the village, Gaara is waiting for them. He seems surprised to see her back. Tsunade had told him that Azula may never come back if she knew there was a way to go back home. Azula laughs and cries at the look he has. She explains that she wants to go home with him. She'll never leave him even when he gets tired of her. She later mentions that perhaps this was how things were supposed to be. She breaks down and worries that he'll eventually leave her just like her friends. Gaara tells her that she's stuck with him.

Eri and Kiku wake up to find themselves laying in beach chairs. The girls are dressed in their bathing suits and Kiku's hair has returned to its normal length. There is no evidence, except the absence of Azula and Callia, that they ever left the real world. As the girls head to Kiku's room, they wonder if their bodies had never left the real world, just their minds. While changing, Eri notices that a group photo of the four shows only two of the girls.

Kiku frantically goes through all her photos. It seems that any photo that Azula and Callia had been in has been changed to as if they never existed. The girls head back down and Kiku asks her mother if she remembers her two friends. Kiku's mom expresses confusion and asks her if "these friends of yours are new? I've never met them." The two decide to visit Callia's home.

Upon knocking, Callia's mother answers with her baby brother in hand. Her mother greets the two and inquires if Kiku is here to babysit the baby. Eri asks if she has a daughter. Callia's mother laughs and says she wishes she did. Unfortunately, she only gave birth to her son. After excusing themselves, they head to Azula's home. This time Azula's father answers. He greets the girls warmly and asks if they're collecting donations for school again. Kiku makes up the idea that they're collecting data on adults with children. Azula's father states that they should know that he and his wife have no children.

Eri and Kiku return to Kiku's room. Eri guesses that since the to never came back, they were wiped out of everyone, except theirs, memories and that any photos, or mention of them was altered. The two girls make a pact that they will stick together to the end. Eri comments how unlike last time they will keep this promise. Kiku nods solemnly and says how going to the Naruto world ruined their friendship and that she wishes it had never happened.

A flashforward shows the two girls in college in New York. Now both are twenty-one and seem to have changed. They rarely mention their friends, though Eri has a full sketch book of Callia and Azula buried under her books. Kiku mentions how mundane their lives have gotten. She wonders what the others have been doing. Eri tells her wondering will get them in trouble again.

* * *

><p><strong>That was the end of the summary. The story was open ended. I was thinking of making a sequel that the two would return to the Naruto world. Eri and Kiku would be older, but in the Naruto world only a year had passed. There would be new OCs that would act as the antagonists and Madara would return. Since I'm ending the story, the idea of a sequel died out.<strong>

**Thank you to all who have read, followed, favorited or reviewed the story. I appreciate how much everyone supported me during my story. Thank you all again. So long!**

**Kitkat d(^.^)b**


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